A Merseyside derby that lacked the bite one would usually associate with this tie, Everton and Liverpool not only played out a 0-0 draw in Goodison Park this afternoon, they did so without referee Michael Oliver showing any player as much as a yellow-card.
With Jurgen Klopp looking squarely toward Tuesday's Champions League tie with Manchester City, two of Liverpool's usually terrific attacking trio were replaced by Danny Ings and Dominic Solanke.
For Sam Allardyce and Everton, although a late flurry of efforts could have secured a long-awaited victory over their city rivals, it was ultimately not meant to be. One player who was absent during this late push was Wayne Rooney; subbed off after 55 minutes and none too happy about it.
Speaking in the wake of the 0-0 draw, Allardyce was asked to comment on why he decided to remove Rooney from the game, and his thoughts on the former Manchester United man's negative reaction to the decision:
Legs ... we needed more legs, and, Wayne has talent in his years, and as good as he is on the ball, we needed to be able to get about the pitch a bit more and he had done his job.
Explaining that it had always been his intention to give Idrissa Gueye at least "thirty minutes" of game-time as he tries to restore fitness, Allardyce had a blunt message for Rooney and any thoughts he has regarding his station at the club:
Nobody is too big to be brought off.
He's bound to be disappointed, but I make the decisions, and those decisions I think have made the team more of an attacking force today, and gave us more opportunities to win the game.
A far cry from the time when as the newly-appointed England manager Allardyce deferred to Rooney's superior footballing knowledge, their relationship does not now appear to be a positive one.
