Ronald Koeman: 'Everton controlled Merseyside derby against Liverpool'

Everton manager Ronald Koeman has claimed that his side "controlled" their Merseyside derby against Liverpool this afternoon, despite falling to a 3-1 defeat at Anfield.

Goals from Sadio Mane and Philippe Coutinho either side of an unlikely Matthew Pennington strike put the hosts ahead at half time before Divock Origi added a third on the hour mark.

It was a typically feisty derby match, with Ross Barkley in particular fortunate to get away without a red card following heavy challenges on Emre Can and Dejan Lovren, but Koeman was unhappy with the behaviour from members of Liverpool's bench.

"Maybe you are right that [Barkley] deserved two yellows for two tackles, but if I watch the Liverpool bench, and one Liverpool coach - not the manager but one of the coaches - the referee would have to show eight red cards to Everton. Please behave a little bit more. Making that show, I don't like that," he told reporters.

"What pleased the manager is how we played today. We had a game plan, tried to press them. We made it really difficult. We came back after an unlucky goal between the legs. I think we controlled the game. It was a face-to-face game in the first half.

"We conceded too easily for 2-1 - except for the quality of Coutinho - and we controlled the game after half time. We had some chances but we did a mistake and they punished us."

Everton are now without a win in their last 13 Merseyside derbies and have not won at Anfield since 1999.