But that curse was finally put to bed when the blue half of Merseyside left their neighbours feeling miserable on Saturday after a performance full of passion, desire, belief and confidence, something they havn't shown in a derby for quite some time. From the very first whistle the Everton side were showing Liverpool that the were not going roll over like they did twice in the derby last season, with Phil Neville setting the tone with a crunching tackle on Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler. And the rewards were soon handed to Everton.

First of all Tim Cahill popped up to score his third goal in a Merseyside derby since joining the blues 3 seasons ago after some neat play between Johnson, Arteta and Carsley. Cahill sent the Goodison Park faithful crazy, but it would only get better and better for them. Just 10minutes after Cahill gave Everton the lead, Johnson made it 2-0. This came after some terrible defending from the normally reliable Jaime Carragher, who struggled to get to grips with the pace, movement and intelligence of Johnson. Johnson continued to chase down every ball and when Carragher mis-kicked his clearance, Johnson pounced to slot home his 3rd goal since joining from Crystal Palace in the summer for a club record 8.6million. As half time approached 37,000 Evertonians went ballistic repeatdedly singing the name of their new hero, Andy Johnson, while knowing Liverpool have proven time and time again, that they are capable of coming back so there was still a nervous feel in the air.

In the second half, the Liverpool onslaught came. Soon after the second half kicked off Dirk Kuyt came on for the ineffectual Peter Crouch. Kuyt looked much more lively than Crouch and nearly got a goal back after a smart touch and shot from just outside the area, but as has been the way all season so far, Tim Howard was equal to the shot. Steven Finnan came agonsisingly close with a drive from 20 yards. Steven Gerrard skimmed the post and then hit it moments later, with each effort it felt more and more like it was going to be Everton's day.

And it was. As the game entered stoppage time the ball fell to Lee Carsley 30 yards from goal, with memories still clear of his derby winner 2 years ago the crowd urged the Irish International to shoot. It was a decent effort but for some reason Reina couldn't handle it, instead of grasping the rebound Reina once again pushed the ball in the air leaving Johnson on hand to nod the ball home for his 4th goal in 4 games since returning to the Premiership. Despite playing up front on his own for the game, Johnson still looked as fresh and as lively as he did in the first minute. With Steve McClaren in the stands the England boss would have found it impossible to not walk away from the game astonished at how well Johnson played. The second goal was fully deserved for Johnson and Everton deserved the win.

With it being 40 years since this happened, and not that many derby victories since that day at Anfield in 1966, Evertonians can truly say that their team are the Pride of Merseyside.

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