Hat-trick hero: What the papers say
On Tuesday night Steven Gerrard became the first Liverpool player to score a hat-trick in a league Merseyside derby since Ian Rush in 1982.
The captain's treble also made him the first Red to net three in the fixture at Anfield since Fred Howe in 1935 and today his praises were sung from every corner of the nation's media.
Here is how the journalists who watched Gerrard at Anfield last night summed up his 400th Premier League appearance.
"Gerrard came at Everton with all the velocity and venom of a stone from a catapult. Anfield was treated to Gerrard at his buccaneering best, tackling one moment, attacking the next. As the Kop bayed for goals, Gerrard immediately commanded the ball and the attention, denied by Tim Howard after only five minutes."
Henry Winter, The Telegraph
"This was another memorable chapter in a remarkable story. Gerrard did what he's done so often over the past decade - provided the inspiration for a crucial victory. When the stakes are high, he always delivers. Not since Ian Rush famously scored four at Goodison in 1982 had anyone plundered a hat-trick in the derby. And when Gerrard gloriously completed this rout in stoppage time he became the first Liverpool FC player since Fred Howe in 1935 to bag a treble against Everton at Anfield."
James Pearce, Liverpool Echo
"Gerrard has always been at his most influential on nights like these, stepping forward to take the responsibility, seizing the game by the scruff of the neck, taking matters into his own hands. The composure with which he took all three goals - the first and the third steered in with his left foot, the second, soon after half-time, thumped home with his right - was striking, but so too was the tenacity with which he competed alongside Jay Spearing in central midfield."
Oliver Kay, The Times
"Even words, never mind statistics, fail to do true justice to his sublime talent...his audacious, magnificent hat-trick destroyed Everton and their manager David Moyes' 10th anniversary celebrations...It would be churlish to deny the genius of Gerrard after the single greatest derby display from a midfielder in a red shirt here in the past two decades."
David Maddock, The Mirror
"The midfielder's 400th appearance for Liverpool was right up there with the best. His was the first hat-trick in the fixture in the league since Ian Rush scored one in a 5-0 win at Goodison in 1982. There was a symbolism about the way Gerrard and Jamie Carragher ran out a full five yards ahead of anyone else in red and it took just over five minutes for the captain to become the advancing presence from midfield."
Ian Herbert, The Independent
"It was always his intention to celebrate the landmark in a memorable manner. Steven Gerrard joined an illustrious, exclusive club and did it as only he knows how...If the build-up to the 217th Merseyside derby had been dominated by talk of how David Moyes had a glorious chance to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his appointment by masterminding Everton's first win at Anfield since 1999, Gerrard was the only name being discussed in the aftermath."
Dominic King, Daily Mail
"It was left to Steven Gerrard, on his 400th league appearance for Liverpool, to chalk up a milestone in style with three excellent finishes to settle the 186th league tussle between these two sides Battle lines were drawn in the match-day programme. "Ideally, they'll want to mark the occasion with a victory," said Gerrard, referring to Moyes' longevity. "That is something we have no intention of letting them do." As if to emphasise the point, it was Liverpool skipper Gerrard who set about ensuring such bold words were matched by actions."
Paul Joyce, Express