Liverpool were ahead before the first minute was over. By the end of the derby at Anfield on 4 March 1972, Everton had conceded four without reply.
The opening goal was credited to Everton’s Tommy Wright. A second own goal, from John McLaughlin midway through the second half, doubled Liverpool’s advantage before Chris Lawler and Emlyn Hughes added the third and fourth.
For all the speed of the breakthrough, the interval score was only 1–0. Everton remained within a goal until McLaughlin’s own goal in the sixty-sixth minute. Lawler scored eight minutes later, and Hughes completed the result near the end.
A crowd of 53,922 had seen an emphatic home victory. Its unusual scoring record was part of the story: Liverpool’s four-goal margin consisted of two own goals and two scored by players whose contributions extended well beyond the attack.
The result also fitted a developing sequence in the league. Liverpool had beaten Crystal Palace 4–1 at the end of January, then won 1–0 at Huddersfield, 2–0 against Sheffield United and 3–0 against Manchester City. Everton became the next opponents to leave them with both a win and a clean sheet.
Those results mattered after a difficult start to the calendar year. Liverpool had lost their first two league fixtures of January, against Leeds and Leicester, and drawn at Wolverhampton. By the derby, they were putting together a much stronger run.
The following week brought a goalless draw at Chelsea, followed by a 5–0 home win against Newcastle. The Everton result therefore sat within a period when Liverpool were combining increasingly productive afternoons at Anfield with a defence conceding very little.
The derby itself was not a contest in which the final margin had been established early. Liverpool led almost immediately, but three of the four goals came after the hour. The first-minute advantage became a four-goal victory through what followed in the second half.