Jimmy Case on Geoff Nulty. Steven Gerrard on Gary Naysmith. Jordan Pickford on Virgil van Dijk. The Merseyside derby is no stranger to memorable challenges, but Dirk Kuyt’s flying tackle on Phil Neville in 2007 might just take top spot.
Tempers were running high after a controversial penalty to Liverpool, which Kuyt slotted past Everton’s Tim Howard in the 54th minute, and things were soon taken up a notch by the Dutchman 10 minutes later.
As Neville went to clear a loose ball, Kuyt careered towards him, leaping into the air with both legs outstretched in a fashion more reminiscent of a scissor kick than a tackle.
— Proper footy vids (@properfootyvids) July 22, 2019
Somehow, Neville avoided the majority of contact and, somehow, Kuyt was only awarded a yellow card by Mark Clattenburg.
Kuyt would go on to score his second penalty of the game in the last minute to secure a famous 2-1 win and secure his place in Merseyside folklore.
Kuyt tells Telegraph Sport: “I was very lucky to come away from that because if I had a red card, I would not have managed to score the winning goal. It’s crazy when you play these kinds of games because there’s a lot of adrenalin, a lot of emotion. You want to fight so hard for your shirt, you want to give everything and manage whatever needs to be done.
“I flew through the air and thank God there was no VAR there at the time. When I was in the air, I knew I was way too late and I was on the point of doing something crazy. I tried to hold my legs inside me just to be lucky not to touch him. I think I was very lucky not to get the red card.”
That was also the consensus at the time, but only added to his reputation amongst the red side of Liverpool when the winner followed.
Kuyt joined Liverpool in 2006 and went on to make nearly 300 appearances for the club, forging a reputation for hard work and being the ultimate team player by covering a variety of positions.
#OTD in 2007:
— Liverpool On This Day (@OnThisDayReds) October 20, 2024
Liverpool fall behind in the derby but come from behind to win 2-1 thanks to two Dirk Kuyt penalties - including one in injury time. Everton are reduced to nine men with Tony Hibbert and Phil Neville controversially sent off pic.twitter.com/H24LQ5TgNm
Now 44, Kuyt returned to Anfield just over a week ago to play in a legends match to raise money for the Liverpool Foundation. A Peter Crouch double helped a Liverpool side containing Steven Gerrard to a 2-0 win over Chelsea. And Kuyt got quite the reception.
Crouchy's back with a brilliant brace 🫶
Enjoy highlights from #Legends2025 as the Reds secured a 2-0 ...
