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Liverpool’s
new American era began in failure on Sunday in front of their latest
owners with a 2-0 loss to Merseyside rivals Everton which sent them
second from bottom of the Premier League.

John W Henry and
Tom Werner were at Goodison Park to see Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta
score in the 34th and 50th minutes, condemning the five times European
champions to their fourth defeat from eight games this season.

Fernando Torres
went closest for the visitors when his first-half header was turned
over the bar by Everton keeper Tim Howard but Liverpool offered little
else in another poor display.

They slipped one place in the table on goal difference,

level on six points with Wolverhampton Wanderers and bottom-placed West Ham United.

Henry’s New England
Sports Ventures, owners of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, completed
a takeover of the Premier League club on Friday after contentious legal
battles with the previous U.S. owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

The jubilant scenes
in London on Friday concluded one of the most dramatic weeks in the
118-year history of Liverpool, one of England’s most famous and
successful clubs.

Fans welcomed Henry
and NESV after becoming increasingly outraged at Hicks and Gillett’s
stewardship and fearful the club was weighed down by unsustainable debt.

Yet the euphoria of the takeover battle did not carry over to the pitch.

Hodgson under pressure

Everton supporters
taunted their counterparts with chants of “Going down”, and the defeat
will focus attention on the future of Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson
under a new regime.

The home side
pressed from the kickoff and went close twice in almost identical
fashion in the first quarter of an hour. Defender Phil Jagielka fired a
left-foot shot over the bar after 12 minutes and two minutes later his
defensive partner Sylvain Distin missed the target from a similar
position inside the area.

Liverpool came to
life after 23 minutes when Joe Cole turned inside and delivered a cross
for Torres, but the Spaniard had his back to goal and his flick-header
was turned over by Tim Howard in Everton’s goal.

The breakthrough came from a determined run down the right by Everton’s right-back, Seamus Coleman.

The Irishman surged
into the area, committing defenders, and after his cross took a slight
deflection off Paul Konchesky, the ball sat up for an onrushing Cahill,
and the Australian drilled his finish high into Jose Reina’s net.

Within five minutes of the start of the second half, Everton doubled their lead.

Liverpool failed to deal adequately with a set piece,

Sotiros Kyrgiakos’s
clearance falling to an unmarked Arteta, whose right-foot shot from the
edge of the area swerved viciously and left Reina clutching at air.

Liverpool raised themselves late on, but it was more in hope than expectation.

Steven Gerrard
delivered an inviting cross for Torres at the back post, but it was
nicked away by a defender at the last moment, and four minutes later
Howard was alert to deny Torres’s right-foot shot inside the area.

Everton, who began the day fourth from bottom, moved up six places to 11th.