Merseyside derbies are usually memorable affairs, but Saturday afternoon's clash completely bucked that trend.

Neither Everton nor Liverpool conjured up a single booking, let alone a goal.

Jurgen Klopp made five changes from the side that beat Manchester City 3-0 in midweek, yet the Toffees still couldn't find an edge.

Seamus Coleman came agonisingly close to scoring what would have been the hosts' first derby winner in their last 17 attempts, while Yannick Bolasie forced a fingertip save from Loris Karius.

Moments like that were few and far between, however, amid a thoroughly uninspiring 90 minutes.

Sam Allardyce tried to change things up and inject more energy into his side by taking off a lacklustre Wayne Rooney and replacing him with Idrissa Gueye.

It produced a furious reaction from the former Manchester United man, who appeared to shout "bulls***" and didn't shake his manager's hand as he took his place on the bench.

Allardyce was asked in his post-match interview why he took the 32-year-old off and what he thought of the player's response.

Big Sam hits back 

"We needed more legs and we needed to be able to get about the pitch a bit more. Gueye was always going to get 30 minutes today," he told Sky Sports, quoted via the Mirror.

"Nobody is too big to be hooked. He was disappointed, no doubt about that, but I made the decision to make us more attacking.

"You have to do the right thing to help the team as a manager."

There are few players who care about the Merseyside derby as much as born-and-bred blue Rooney, but his passing was all over the place and he simply wasn't creating enough.

He's far from the only one to have expressed a bit of disdain with Big Sam's management at Goodison.

Ultimately, a point won't have a huge bearing on either side's season, which perhaps explains the flat atmosphere.

Was Rooney's reaction fair? Have your say in the comments.