DERBY hero Dirk Kuyt has defended his horror tackle on Phil Neville – but admits he was “a bit lucky” to avoid being sent off.
The Dutch striker netted twice from the penalty spot as Rafael Benitez’s side came from behind to win the 206th Merseyside derby 2-1 against nine-man Everton at Goodison on Saturday.
An own goal from Sami Hyypia had given the home team a half-time lead but Kuyt equalised on 54 minutes before netting the winner in injury time after Tony Hibbert and then Neville had been dismissed.
However, Everton were furious Kuyt had not also been red-carded by referee Mark Clattenburg shortly after his first goal when he launched into an ugly-looking two-footed block towards Neville.
But the striker said: “Some people who saw it on the television said it looks bad but, in my opinion, I just went to make a tackle and I never meant to touch the player and I didn’t touch the player.
“Maybe I was a bit lucky, but I think that it looked worse than it actually was. It was not my intention to touch the player and I accept the yellow card.”
Liverpool’s win extends their unbeaten start to the Premier League season and keeps them within six points of leaders Arsenal, who they entertain next Sunday.
It was also the perfect start to an important week for Benitez’s side, with the crucial Champions League clash in Istanbul against Besiktas to come on Wednesday.
“If you want to win the Premier League, you need to win these kind of games,” said Kuyt. “It was really important for our confidence. There are a lot of difficult games coming up such as Besiktas in midweek and Arsenal next Sunday, and we have to go on from this.
“Even when we were 1-0 down, you saw the confidence in the team that we could still win. We showed in the second half we can play good football, although admittedly we were playing against 10 men.”
Kuyt, whose goals were his first in the Premier League this season, revealed the decision to take the penalties lay between himself and strike partner Andriy Voronin.
But having confidently dispatched the first spot-kick, the Dutchman admits there was a split-second where he feared Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard had saved his injury-time winning penalty.
“It was a test of nerve,” said Kuyt. “It was brilliant to win the derby with a penalty in the last minute, sometimes you have to show your nerve and I managed to do that.
“It was more difficult than the first penalty as I’d already taken one against Howard and he’s a good keeper. You have to think about what you are going to do. I decided to shoot in the same direction and hope that it would be an omen, and it was.
“There was a moment when I saw he was going in the right direction but the ball was hit hard enough. Sometimes we change the taker when we get a second penalty, but I had the confidence and the belief to score the goals and help win the game.
“Me and Andriy were on the list to take a penalty, and we decided between us that I would take it. Stevie came to up to me and asked ‘are you sure?’ and I said that I was sure.
“I’m also happy because they were my first two goals in the Premier League this season and hopefully I can go on from this.
“I was injured for the last 10 days and didn’t go with the national team. I also didn’t start the last two games for Liverpool, so I was really happy that I could start and it was good I could score twice but the most important thing is that we won the game.”
