Even Jurgen Klopp knew. As the boos rang out from the away end at Anfield while fourth official Thomas Bramall displayed the number five on his electronic board, Ibrahima Konate walked off the pitch. He was to join the substitutes bench when, in reality, he should have been heading down the tunnel for an early bath.

Moments earlier and with the game still goalless the centre back, already on a yellow card, was adjudged to have tripped Beto as Everton sprung a counter attack. Four stands gasped in anticipation of the second yellow, and then the red card, being produced. Referee Craig Pawson instead opted for leniency.

It was a baffling, critical decision that left Sean Dyche furious and prevented a brave Everton performance from getting a positive result that would have been deserved. It was even more astonishing given the inconsistency it represented - Everton played this game for an hour with 10 men after Ashley Young was not afforded the same clemency. When VAR later intervened to lead to the Mo Salah penalty that decided the 243rd Merseyside derby, the cruelty of the decision-making only intensified.

MATCH BLOG: Liverpool vs Everton live - score updates and analysis

RATINGS: Everton player ratings against Liverpool as six players dig in in controversial loss

After the VAR failure that cost Liverpool dear at Tottenham Hotspur so recently, many Everton supporters spent the build up to this game wondering whether a controversial call might cost them at Anfield. The joke became a reality. VAR could not intervene - the technology is unavailable for consideration of yellow cards. But Dyche and his dugout - one of whom was booked soon after - had every right to be angered.

Up to that point, Everton had been comfortable. Even with 10 men. The attacking double substitution made by Klopp just after the hour mark was an attempt to find an antidote to the frustration simmering around Anfield as the away side survived unscathed for more than 20 minutes with 10 men. The dismissal of Young, who received a soft first yellow but then made a rash challenge on Luis Diaz to pick up his second, had forced a rethink at half-time - Everton moving to five at the back. But while Everton were less ambitious going forward, they were just as resolute.

Even after the red card for Young - and the decision not to send Konate off - Liverpool still needed help to see off a spirited Blues. Michael Keane had been brought on as part of defensive changes at the break and when the ball struck his arm from a Diaz cross Pawson initially ignored the calls for a penalty. He was sent to the monitor, however, and luckless Keane could only watch as the decision was reversed.

Salah scored from 12 yards, and then in stoppage time as Everton fought for an equaliser, but the game turned on the decision-making while the game was goalless.

Young’s red card marred what had been a promising first half from Everton. Dyche set his side up to show ambition when opportunities were presented and, while few big chances were created by the away side, they disrupted Liverpool’s midfield and prevented the hosts from dominating the ball in key areas. James Garner and Amadou Onana both hustled in the middle of the pitch and each could have set Dominic Calvert-Lewin free with more composure when the loose ball dropped their way. Instead, Onana fired wide from the halfway line after good pressing by Calvert-Lewin and Garner fired a pass wide of the target man’s feet when possession was once again stolen.

Calvert-Lewin had the first effort of the match, rising above Virgil Van Dijk to head at Alisson. Few chances followed but the intent was clear and the game adopted a surprisingly frenetic tempo as Jordan Pickford sought to release the ball just as quickly as his opposite number.

Everton tried to pack the middle of the pitch when Liverpool had possession which, while effective, left the defence vulnerable to cross-field balls. It was a risk Dyche appeared content to take and often paid off - while Liverpool threatened they were met with a wall of blue shirts when they tried to penetrate the box. Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai came close but their efforts were from a distance Everton’s defence was comfortable to concede.

What that approach did do, however, was test the full-backs. Young had made an exceptional last-gasp challenge to deny Diaz from a Liverpool counter attack after an Everton corner - attacking set pieces unhelpfully creating more problems for Everton than chances of their own. But after picking up an early yellow card that looked soft - particularly as Kostas Tsimikas rode his luck through a couple of unpunished fouls - Young’s decision to dive in on Diaz late in the first half was calamitous.

The second yellow card forced the halftime changes and rearguard action that was the narrative of the second half and Everton passed the 60 minute mark in comfort, Klopp’s double change a compliment to the effectiveness of the away defence. But more big decisions followed. And while Everton could compete with their opposition players, they could not also survive the inconsistency of the officiating.