"Everton are effective because they have some big physical lads in the team and are very direct. They are effective. But the only team who tried to play football was us. Everton are not better than us.
"Everton were very direct and were getting on the second balls. The plan in the second half was to go 3-5-2 and try to stop the long balls coming in.
"Once we stopped that we passed through Everton and looked very dangerous on the break.
"We had a young, small team and they were all men and stood together. We deserved the win."
With so much attention on Suárez's reputation for allegedly attempting to fool officials, Gerrard could not resist a swipe at Neville for the booking he received.
"I think Phil Neville badly let his manager down," he said.
"His manager did every paper, every radio station and every TV channel talking about Luis Suárez and then his captain, who is meant to be setting an example, blatantly dives.
"If David Moyes is a real man and a real manager, which I think he is, then he will be speaking to Phil Neville about it.
"With what he said about Luis Suárez before, David Moyes was trying to get in the referee's head, which is fine, that's all part of the game, stuff like that, but you don't expect your captain to dive like that.
"Luis Suárez was fantastic for us again. I can't control what he does when he scores a goal, I was just happy to see it hit the back of the net. He doesn't need David Moyes to fire him up. But if people want to try to get in Luis's head and wind him up then it's the wrong thing to do.
"You saw that it seems to inspire him rather than go against him."
Gerrard also attacked the decision to disallow Suárez's injury time goal.
"I've seen it again and we can feel sorry ourselves because it was a clear goal," he said.
"We should have taken away the three points rather than just one.
"There is no offside and it's difficult for me to explain it. The only person who can explain it is the linesman.
"I asked him after the game if it was offside and he said 'I think so'. That's not good enough.
"If every decision in this league is based on 'we think so' then we're in trouble.
"The linesman got it badly wrong. The benefit of the doubt is supposed to go to the attacking player anyway.
"And for their second goal, it's a clear throw-in to us.
"The linesman gives us the throw but the referee saw something different.
"He gave Everton the throw and their second goal came from that."
Gerrard reserved special praise for teenager Raheem Sterling, who handled the intensity of the occasion.
"I thought Sterling was fantastic. He has been a revelation for us," said Gerrard.
"To be 17 years of age away in a derby in a cauldron in an atmosphere like this against a big physical, long-ball team, I thought he was outstanding.
"I don't think the Everton players would have known too much about Raheem Sterling before Sunday. But I think they are going to be seeing an awful lot of him in the future.
"He is going to be playing in many, many Merseyside derbies. He is going to have a major impact in them.
"Even when he was through on goal, when he matures a little bit and gets a bit more composure into his game, that will come. We've all been there.
"He is going to be one of the top players in the league, there's no doubt about it.
"The way he stands up for himself, wants the ball and doesn't hide. It's a credit to himself.
"He has some bottle. That's what you look for in young lads. You wonder whether they have the bottle to play away against tough teams in tough situations, and he handled it superbly."
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