In the Heat of a Derby, Blood Is Spilled LONDON - The English and German leagues went head-to-head for world television audiences over the weekend. Everton and Liverpool, whose stadiums are within easy walking distance of each other, fought out the highest-scoring Merseyside derby in league play since 1935. It had everything that adrenaline can fuel: A 3-3 final score, brave and dramatic saves in either goalmouth, a soccer game that resembled the rhythm of basketball in end-to-end movement and opportunity. Several hours later on Saturday night, Bayern Munich visited Borussia Dortmund. It was ostensibly the Bundesliga's own "Klassiker," but the world was interested because these were the two finalists in the Champions League last May. Television viewers in more than 200 countries could watch the game at Dortmund's 80,000-capacity Westfalstadion. Though injuries had stripped Borussia of all four of its first-choice players on the defensive backline, the home side's resilience held strong for 66 minutes. And then, like a kick in the teeth, it was Mario Götze who broke the deadlock. Borussia had taught Götze all that he knows. He had joined its academy when he was 8, had risen as a hometown boy. But when he turned 21 this year, he exercised a clause in his contract to be sold to the Dortmund's bitter rival, Munich. So when he was summoned off the bench to a relentless choruses of boos from his former fans, the almost inevitable happened. Super Mario, the substitute, scored the first goal. Arjen Robben and then Thomas Müller then struck in the final five minutes, and the final score, 3-0 to Munich, flattened Dortmund and flattered the Bundesliga champion, Bayern. Yet anyone who viewed both of Saturday's big matches bore witness to the differences that still divide England and Germany as sports foes. There is a discipline to the Bundesliga in which its well-taught tactical and technical elements make Germany's approach stand out at times against the English. It was seen in London last Tuesday, when a less-than-full-strength Germany beat England in a friendly at Wembley Stadium. And, despite the overseas" investments and the overwhelming numbers of foreign players imported into England's major clubs, there remains a pace, a frenzy, about a Merseyside derby that is soaked in over a century of rivalry. What has always amazed me is that fans of both teams live on the same streets, sometimes in the same houses. But come derby day, either at Goodison Park, Everton's home, or across the green public park at Liverpool F.C."s Anfield, the atmosphere changes into something close to sporting warfare. At times, it can affect the players. That, charitably, might be the excuse - the only excuse - for the horrendous foul that Kevin Mirallas, Everton's Belgian midfielder, committed against Liverpool's Uruguayan forward, Luis Suárez. In a still photograph, that tackle looks clearly high and dangerous. In real time, it was worse. The speed and force with which Mirallas ran at Suárez was frightening. The reckless way that he lifted his shoe and thrust his cleats into the back of Suarez's knee was unpardonable. Yet somehow Phil Dowd, the experienced English referee, allowed the perpetrator to remain on the field. Dowd had to wrestle with angry Liverpool players and medical staff members, such was the outrage over the offense. The ref did his job well in that regard. But then he waited and he waited. It took several minutes to stop the bleeding on Suarez's leg. Then, finally, the referee decided the foul was worthy only of a yellow card. His clemency was explained by some observers as an arbiter "taking account of the passions of the Merseyside derby." Passions are irrelevant. The team managers disagreed. Everton's manager, Roberto Martinez, described Mirallas's offense as "a typical forward's tackle. He shut his eyes and went for the ball. Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers said that as much as he accepts that Mirallas seems like an honest player, the tackle could have ended a career. Rodgers, in this instant, is right. The referee waited, it seemed, to see if Suárez could resume before deciding the color of his card. Yet nothing in the rules suggests that the severity of injury should dictate the punishment. Remarkably, Suárez did resume. And, as ever, his effort, his brilliance, was key to Liverpool's attacking potency. In fact, the Uruguayan is so important to his club that Liverpool's owner had sent his private jet to Montevideo to collect him after a World Cup qualifying match late Wednesday night. And in a contest where attackers constantly bewildered defenders, Suárez scored with a free kick curled through a wall of defenders. Mirallas had also scored, and so did the Brazilian Philippe Coutinho and the Englishman Daniel Sturridge for Liverpool. There was also a personal duel within the match, between Everton's Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku and Liverpool's Belgian keeper, Simon Mignolet. Four times, the goalie stopped the sturdy striker at point-blank range. But Lukaku, on loan from Chelsea, persevered to score twice, one a poacher's touch, the other a mighty header. It ended, appropriately all square. Neither side deserved to lose. Both can attribute defensive blunders to the Derby Day rush of blood. Only the unacceptable, dangerous tackle will fester. In Germany, meantime, the merciless late goals by Bayern probably put a premature end to Dortmund's title hopes. There is no time to feel the pain, as both sides are playing in the Champions League this week.