If the vast expanses of Stanley Park were to represent the moral high ground, Everton and Liverpool would be building new stadiums at opposite ends. Certainly there is little by way of common ground between the two rivals these days, but, as the dust settled last night on the second of three Merseyside derby matches in 16 days, it did not take the broad grin of Bill Kenwright, the Everton chairman, to tell you which team had the loudest claim to a moral victory.

Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, would not hear of it, having stopped only just short of repeating his infamous description of Everton as a “small club”, but this was an uplifting afternoon for the blue half of the city. For the second time in six days they took the short journey to Anfield without a number of key players — Mikel Arteta failed a late fitness test and joined Marouane Fellaini, Yakubu Ayegbeni, Louis Saha and James Vaughan on the sidelines — but, to the immense satisfaction of David Moyes, their manager, they frustrated their more revered opponents, taking the lead through Joleon Lescott and then holding firm throughout the inevitable onslaught that followed Steven Gerrard’s equaliser early in the second half.

Benítez said afterwards that only one team had wanted to win and that he had never set out a team to play as Everton did — or at least not since his days coaching Extremadura, the Spanish club that he led to promotion to La Liga on a shoestring budget in the late 1990s. You knew what he was getting at, with Everton scrapping and defending with a desperation that would not usually be associated with a team that lies sixth in the Barclays Premier League table, but it is Liverpool’s job to break down resilient opponents and, alarmingly, for the fourth time in their past five home matches they failed to do so.

For that, Benítez can choose whether to blame bad luck, a lack of killer instinct in his own strikeforce — that did not include Robbie Keane, who was left out of the 18-man squad in a further blow to his diminishing confidence — or the astonishing resolve shown by an Everton team who spent the majority of the game under siege.

Phil Jagielka, at the heart of the visiting team’s defence, played superbly in front of Fabio Capello, the England manager, but even his performance was eclipsed by that of Lescott, who, having recovered from a wretched start to the season, is intent on ensuring that he is not the man to make way if and when his team-mate is recalled to the national squad.

Lescott was magnificent, rising to meet every high ball, throwing himself in the way of shots and defending with the resilience that was needed if Everton were to pull off this backs-to-the-wall operation. He even scored the goal that put his team ahead in the 27th minute, reacting well to divert Tim Cahill’s header past José Manuel Reina — a sweet moment at the Kop, with the Liverpool supporters having been mocking his looks just minute earlier.

It was a terrible goal for Liverpool to concede, not only because they had dominated possession to that point, with Jamie Carragher coming closest to scoring after an improbable “Cruyff turn” in the penalty area, but because it was yet another goal lost at a dead-ball situation. Benítez’s love of zonal marking is not the Achilles heel that some television commentators would have you believe, but, when it goes awry, it goes awry.

Five of the past eight goals Liverpool have conceded have been from set-pieces and, as Cahill sneaked in unnoticed from behind the far post to head Steven Pienaar’s corner goalwards, with Lescott doing the rest, Benítez, on the touchline, scribbled more manically than ever in his notepad. Presumably it said something like: “Must go back to the chalkboard”.

Everton were struggling to retain possession for longer than seconds at a time, but, with Tony Hibbert, Leighton Baines and Phil Neville following the lead of Jagielka and Lescott, they were making life difficult for Liverpool. So too, at times, were Benítez’s players, their crisp passing too often falling apart when they got close to the opposing penalty area. Part of the problem was that Gerrard and Fernando Torres were being kept in check so impressively. Another was the performance of Ryan Babel, who these days looks not so much a rough diamond as rough diamante.

The second half, though, was a different matter. Gerrard emerged with the bit between his teeth and immediately drove Liverpool forward. Thankfully he had a willing and highly able accomplice, Torres, who showed a stupendous piece of skill to take Gerrard’s pass on his chest and flick the ball back into the path of his team-mate. Gerrard, marauding into a penalty area, did the rest, beating Tim Howard at the near post, but it was not a goal that the Everton goalkeeper will be keen to revisit, having allowed the ball to go under his body.

Howard went some way towards atoning for that error in the closing stages, saving well from Gerrard as Liverpool drove forward in search of the winning goal. It did not come. Everton held firm and got the replay which, whatever Benítez’s thoughts, their efforts merited.

They will have Fellaini and Arteta back for that, not to mention the support of a crowd that will be baying for red blood. Moyes, though, would not have it that they will be favourites. Somehow you suspect that Everton prefer life as the underdog.

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): J M Reina 5 - Á Arbeloa 5, M Skrtel 6, J Carragher 6, A Dossena 5 - X Alonso 6, J Mascherano 6 - D Kuyt 6, S Gerrard 8, R Babel 4 - F Torres 6. Substitute: A Riera (for Babel, 75min). Not used: D Cavalieri, S Hyypia, F Aurélio, Lucas Leiva, Y Benayoun, D Ngog.

Everton (4-4-2): T Howard 5 - A Hibbert 6, P Jagielka 8, J Lescott 9, L Baines 7 - L Osman 6, P Neville 6, S Castillo 5, S Pienaar 6 - V Anichebe 5, T Cahill 5. Substitutes: D Gosling (for Anichebe, 71min), J Rodwell (for Castillo, 75). Not used: C Nash, J Yobo, L Jacobsen, A van der Meyde, L Jutkiewicz.

Referee: S Bennett Attendance: 43,524