AS they chewed the fat over a post-match drink deep in the bowels of Anfield, Kenny Dalglish and David Moyes could at least reach agreement on one matter.

After slugging out a rollercoaster draw in the 215th Merseyside derby, both Liverpool and Everton had good reason to believe they had the greater claim for local bragging rights.

So Dalglish’s second reign at Anfield begins the same way it had ended almost 20 years earlier with ultimate frustration against their nearest neighbours.

But the Liverpool manager will take solace from the fact that, following defeats at Manchester United and Blackpool, a testing first week since taking the reins from Roy Hodgson has yielded at least some tangible reward.

Having dominated the opening 45 minutes and taken a deserved lead, the Anfield outfit then had to call upon the kind of resilience and determination that has been sorely lacking in recent times to drag themselves back level in the face of Everton’s rousing second-half comeback.

Shades of the unforgettable 4-4 that signalled the end of Dalglish’s first managerial stint? Perhaps. But while the endeavour and attitude of both teams yesterday matched that remarkable evening, the quality did not.

Liverpool’s decline this season and the 2-0 Goodison derby win in October gave genuine hope this would be the afternoon Everton secured their first Anfield triumph since September 1999.

Moyes will be satisfied, however. This draw continues his team’s impressive New Year form, a result made all the more creditable given the absence of the outbound Steven Pienaar and crocked Louis Saha.

At half-time though, the Goodison manager’s gamble to place his trust in the untested and, if truth be told, unreliable strike partnership of Victor Anichebe and Jermaine Beckford appeared to have misfired, Everton overrun in midfield and impotent in attack.

But Moyes stuck to his guns. And from the restart, the visitors, and in particular Anichebe, awoke from their first-half slumber and successfully capitalised on the disruption of Liverpool’s defensive reshuffle with Daniel Agger forced to retire ill.