Sometimes the best victories are the ugliest ones. Liverpool's 100th-minute winner at Goodison Park might not have been poetry in motion, but it was something far more valuable: proof that this team has steel when it counts.

Virgil van Dijk's towering header didn't just secure three points in the Merseyside derby. It answered the questions that have been whispered around Anfield about whether this squad can dig deep when the glamour fades and the grind begins.

Arne Slot was right to hail his players' mentality after what he called a 'big, big compliment' to their character. Five games in 15 days with largely the same players would test any squad, but to find that extra gear when legs are heavy and minds are tired? That's what champions do.

The Toffees will cry about David Moyes' penalty claims and call it 'cruel', but football has never been about fairness. It's about who wants it more when the clock hits triple digits and bodies are screaming for the final whistle.

That seven-point gap to Chelsea in sixth tells its own story. Liverpool aren't just winning pretty matches against tired defences anymore. They're winning when it's scrappy, when it's desperate, when character matters more than class.

This is the kind of victory that builds title challenges rather than just preserving them.