LIVERPOOL have never won the Premier League but in those distant days when they used to monopolise the old First Division they had the happy knack of claiming maximum points when not playing particularly well. They have got the habit back, and it augurs well for their prospects of making a genuine challenge for the title for the first time since 1997. The latest Merseyside derby — the 208th — will not linger long in the memory, neither team having played anywhere near their best, but two goals in the space of three second-half minutes from Fernando Torres gave Liverpool a deserved victory which took them back to the top of the table at lunchtime yesterday.

Everton have now lost each of their first three home games in the league. Tim Cahill’s red card after 80 minutes, for a bad foul on Xabi Alonso, had no effect on the outcome, and manager David Moyes has more serious matters than that unsigned contract to concern him. It worries him that Everton have been beaten four times already this season, and that a defence once renowned for its resilience has now gone 12 matches without keeping a clean sheet. The Everton manager said: “This is the same group of players, in the main, that finished fifth last season, and our performances aren’t matching that. It is my job to try to find that form again.”

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was relieved that Torres, who rattled in 33 goals last season, is back in the groove, having previously failed to score since the opening-day victory over Sunderland. “His goals enable the team to play with confidence,” the Liverpool manager said. “Fernando thinks he can score even more than last season, but I’ll be happy if he gets 32.”

Derbies may be the biggest games in Everton’s calendar, but Liverpool have bigger fish to fry and are glad to get these local skirmishes out of the way without damage, either physical or arithmetical. It was not atypical when Cahill went through Alonso, whose minor ankle injury could have been a lot worse. Moyes felt the card should have been yellow, not red, but as the fragrant Mandy once said, he would, wouldn’t he?

Everton gave a debut to Marouane Fellaini, their £15m midfield recruit from Standard Liege, and the tall, 20-year-old Belgian made a sound if unspectacular start, passing the ball economically and performing his defensive duties diligently. To his relief, he will not come up against Alonso and Steven Gerrard every week.

There was also a home debut for Louis Saha, as a second-half substitute, but he also found it hard to make an impact. Of Fellaini, Moyes said: “I thought his early booking \ affected him, but for a 20-year-old boy coming into a team not playing at its best, I thought he did well. We should be helping him, rather than the other way around.”

Pepe Reina, in the Liverpool goal, was not called upon to make a single save, but it was Everton who should have taken the lead in the 15th minute when Mikel Arteta’s corner from the left was deflected to the far post, where Cahill, eight yards out, made a horrible hash of an inviting chance, miskicking wildly. Not long afterwards Fellaini had a shot cleared off the line by Jamie Carragher, whose heroics counted for nought when the referee indicated that Reina had been fouled into dropping the ball. That was the extent of it as far as Everton’s attacking threat was concerned.

Liverpool fashioned only one scoring opportunity in a prosaic first half, Phil Jagielka’s timely intervention balking Torres on the edge of the six-yard line. It was a different story, however, once the stalemate had been broken in the 59th minute — a feat accomplished when Robbie Keane did well to chase down a through-ball from Alonso and cut it back from the byline on the left for Torres to volley in from eight yards. Before Everton could steady themselves, it was 2-0 and game over, Torres shooting firmly past Tim Howard from 12 yards. The goal was hard on Jagielka, who had dispossessed Dirk Kuyt with a last-ditch tackle, only for the loose ball to run straight to Spain’s scorer extraordinaire. Torres had the ball in the net again, but the hat-trick strike was disallowed for an earlier foul by Kuyt on Joleon Lescott.

Gerrard might also have made it 3-0, from 25 yards, but was denied by Howard’s flying save, and Everton and their fans were glad to hear the final whistle. Ten minutes from the end, the small visiting contingent launched into some celebratory choruses of You’ll Never Walk Alone, and the disgruntled majority were too deflated to drown them out. Happy days for Liverpool, blue ones indeed for the other half of Merseyside.

EVERTON: Howard 6, Hibbert 6, (Saha 63min), Yobo 6, Jagielka 7, Lescott 6, Arteta 6, Cahill 5, Neville 5, Osman 5, Fellaini 6, Yakubu 5

LIVERPOOL: Reina 6, Arbeloa 6, (Pennant 86min), Carragher 7, Skrtel 6, Dossena 6, Kuyt 7, Gerrard 8, Alonso 7 (Lucas 86min), Riera 5 (Aurelio 67min), Keane 6, Torres 8