Kuyt penalty saves Liverpool in Dalglish return

Liverpool came from behind to share the spoils with Everton in the Merseyside derby on Sunday as Kenny Dalglish's emotional Anfield homecoming ended in a 2-2 draw. Dalglish appeared to be heading for his third consecutive defeat since taking over from Roy Hodgson after two second-half goals in seven minutes from Sylvain Distin and Jermaine Beckford gave Everton a 2-1 lead.
But Liverpool - who had taken a first-half lead through Raul Meireles - fought back to secure a draw courtesy of a Dirk Kuyt penalty on 68 minutes after Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard upended Maxi Rodriguez.
The atmosphere inside Anfield had been electric before kick-off as the Kop roared out "You'll Never Walk Alone" to mark Dalglish's return to the home dugout for the first time in 20 years.
Dalglish later praised the character of his players for coming back after trailing early in the second half. Howard pulled off a superb double save from Kuyt, but could clear only as far as Meireles on the edge of the area who lashed a swerving shot high into the net sending Dalglish leaping off the bench in delight.
Meireles was to test Howard shortly before half-time after being played in by Kuyt, only for the Everton keeper to save at the near post. But Liverpool were rocked in the opening minute of the second half, when Distin nodded home at the far post to level. And it got worse for Liverpool six minutes later, when Leon Osman slipped a deft pass to Beckford who curled his shot beyond Pepe Reina to silence the Kop and leave Dalglish shaking his head in disbelief. Earlier Sunday, an injury-time goal from Sunderland's Ghanaian international Asamoah Gyan denied Newcastle home-and-away victories over their north-east rivals as Birmingham and Aston Villa drew at St Andrews.
Newcastle, seeking to bounce back from their shock FA Cup exit to lowly Stevenage last week, looked to be heading for a 1-0 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light after a Kevin Nolan goal put them ahead. Manchester United survived the 73rd-minute dismissal of fullback Rafael Da Silva to draw 0-0 at Tottenham Hotspur and edge back to the top of the Premier League on goal difference on Sunday. The Brazilian defender was shown a second yellow after tripping Benoit Assou-Ekotto to set up a nervous finale to an open attacking match.