Everton players had a tough wake-up call on Saturday.
It was courtesy of a 1 am wandering alarm at the dockland hotel where they spent Friday night, interrupting sleep before a big game.
Some team members believe the alarm was no accident, suspecting a deliberate attempt to disturb them by a malicious Liverpool fan. But in the end, Carlo Ancelotti and his players went back to bed, woke up and guaranteed that their rivals would have a sleepless night 24 hours later.
At around 7:30 pm, Everton was celebrating a historic victory in the Merseyside derby at Anfield, the first in the entire park since 1999.
Athletic can reveal the internal history of a 22-year-old triumph; how it happened and how those responsible celebrated what is widely seen in Goodison as an important psychological landmark.
Ancelotti allowed himself a wide smile after the final whistle. He hugged his backstage team. But he wasn’t letting go …