Posts Tagged ‘Everton’

Everton confirm Donovan bid

AEK Athens 0-1 Everton

When clubs talk of qualifying for Europe, the images conjured up are something other than rain, mud and pain, which were everywhere in this corner of Athens . They were, however, ones that Everton first endured and then overcame to qualify for the knockout phase of the Europa League with one match to spare.

From the moment Diniyar Bilyaletdinov kept his feet on a surface of sodden soil and sand well enough to shoot into the roof of the net, Everton did precisely what they had to do. However, perhaps too appropriately in a country where the phrase was coined, this was something of a Pyrrhic victory.

David Moyes, with his squad already riddled by injuries, lost Sylvain Distin, Dan Gosling and Jô during the course of this encounter, the first two with potentially serious hamstring injuries. Many more wins like this and he will have to think of turning out himself.

“I don’t think Jô’s injury is serious,” Moyes said. “I am concerned about Distin and Dan as both are hamstring strains. We will have them assessed tomorrow. I think the main reason for the injuries is down to overloading them. Sylvain has had to play just about every minute of every game.”

This stadium may have been empty enough for the explosion of firecrackers to reverberate like bomb blasts. AEK Athens may have been demoralised by strike action by players who have not been paid for six weeks but the sound of those who had travelled from Merseyside could still be heard from within the room where Moyes reflected on what was only his second victory in a dozen attempts.

Mostly the name they chanted was his. “The conditions out there were just like the old days. I would have enjoyed it out there,” he said. “We had to lift the spirits after what was a good performance, despite the result, in the derby.

“This showed there is a heartbeat in this football club. I feel as if there is blood pumping through the veins again. It was tough but it can be the start of something more for us.”

The Greek capital can be a strange place in winter. Chelsea arrived in a blizzard for a Champions League encounter with Olympiakos and today Athens resembled a drowned city. Rain had been hammering the streets incessantly with the odd echo of thunder rippling across the Acropolis.

The running track here was a series of vast puddles, the pitch a mixture of sand and mud on which maintaining any sort of footing was an art. The Swiss referee, Claudio Circhetta, had warned that, if the rain did not let up, the game could not be guaranteed.

The fixture was a quarter of an hour old when the downpour stopped, although by then Moyes’ defence was in the hands of two rookies, Seamus Coleman and Shane Duffy, with full-back Tony Hibbert employed as a centre-half as he had been in the 2-1 victory over BATE Borisov.

Given the circumstances, this most makeshift of back-fours came through their ordeal admirably. But for a lunging block by Coleman, who looked a far more mature and secure performer than the nervous figure given the dreadfully awkward task of shackling Benfica’s Angel Di María in Lisbon, Gustavo Manduca would have equalised for Athens with 20 minutes remaining.

Had there been other options, Distin, who flew to Greece troubled by his hamstring, probably would not have started. In the event the Frenchman lasted 15 minutes while Gosling appeared to catch his studs in a divot and went down heavily. Mud and rain are supposedly conditions which play to the English strengths of sweat and hard work and yet the one who kept his composure better than anyone was the man from São Paulo. It was Jô’s control – taking down Tim Cahill’s flick-on by the edge of the area and steering it between two defenders, one of whom had a handful of his shirt – that set up Bilyaletdinov. And but for Sebastian Saja’s low, full-stretch save, he might have made this game safe before he, too, was taken off on the golf buggy that churned its way regularly on to the field.

Though AEK Athens have been riven by pay disputes, they were still rather more organised than the shambolic side that were overwhelmed at Goodison Park in September. Nevertheless, apart from Coleman’s intervention, only occasionally did Tim Howard have to make a save, although when he did the conditions ensured the ball would arrive in a spray of mud and water.

The Europa League may be derided as a forgotten competition but, for Everton, the memories of this win will linger.

Gerrard admits title Liverpool’s hopes are slim

• Captain says they must focus on getting back into the top four
• Midfielder sees win over Everton as platform for a winning run

Steven Gerrard has admitted a top-four finish is now a more realistic aim for Liverpool than winning the Premier League this season as they lie 13 points behind the leaders, Chelsea, after a poor run of form throughout October and November.

Gerrard said: “I think we have to be realistic. At the moment we’re out of the title race, but we will keep trying to get back in it. There is still a lot of football to be played and it is possible to turn it around, but I think Chelsea are looking really strong at the moment.”

Liverpool have not won the league since 1990 and Gerrard said: “It’s been too long without a league title and because it is missing from my collection it is one that I’m most desperate for going forward.”

However, he said their target now was “to get back into the top four. We’re coming off the back of a fantastic win at Everton and we want to continue that against Blackburn and try and go on a run of games where we can get closer to the teams above us.”

Gerrard, 29, is due to make his 500th appearance for Liverpoool in Saturday’s match against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield and said: “It means everything to me personally. I’m a local boy and my dream when I was young was always just to play one game for Liverpool. So to reach this milestone is a really proud moment for my family and myself.”

Moyes fears drop if Everton don’t improve

• Manager concerned poor form will lead to relegation
• Derby game crucial as he hopes to kick-start season

Everton’s manager David Moyes has admitted his side are on the brink of a relegation battle and the fact they face an encounter with their near-neighbours Liverpool this weekend makes little difference to that.

Moyes’s team go into the 212th Merseyside derby on a poor run of form, having won just once in 10 matches to leave them just four points above the bottom three. The manager said the team must start winning, irrespective of who Sunday’s opponents were, if they were to avoid slipping further down the table.

“We have to talk about it. There is no point in hiding and burying our heads in the sand,” he said. “If we don’t start to play better we will be [in relegation trouble]. We are not playing well enough to be anywhere else.

“You can’t hide the fact if you keep losing games you will be relegated. You have to stop it and get in a position when that will happen.”

Moyes accepts Sunday’s match is of huge importance in terms of bragging rights within the city but he is more concerned with getting his side back to where he believes they should be, which is inside the top six.

“It is the sort of game we are privileged to be involved in,” he said. “It is an opportunity to try to get a win against our local rivals but if you said to me would I take two defeats against Liverpool and finish in a European spot, of course I would. I’m trying to focus as much on Everton and not to look at Liverpool.”

Despite Everton’s poor form Moyes said he was not finding managing the side any less enjoyable than in previous seasons.

“I have always enjoyed the job and working in football,” he added. “You want your players to play well, you want to show the work you are doing and get something from that as well.

“There is a saying that after you do all your work in the week that, win or lose, it shouldn’t really matter as a coach because if you have done your preparation well it is then down to the players. Of course it matters. You are out trying to make changes during the game, at half-time.

“You try to be prepared as well as you can but you have to trust the players to go on and do it. That is what we have done over the last couple of seasons and are asking them to do now. We are asking them to show what they are about, they are better than what they are showing.”

Marouane Fellaini returns from suspension, as does the midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, having missed the midweek defeat to Hull. The Belgium international has one derby victory under his belt – last season’s FA Cup fourth-round replay – and is desperate to add to that tally.

“We simply have to win. If we lose I would hear the other fans celebrating and I don’t want to have to shut my window. I want to win,” Fellaini said. “You can’t predict these games and all you know is that it will be a great occasion.

“What makes it such an entertaining game is the absolute desire from both teams and it will be a brilliant atmosphere. I can’t wait. You can’t really say that both teams are going into it playing equally as badly.

“Everton’s run of results has been worse, so we cannot afford to be complacent in any way. I am ready to get going again after missing Hull. Sunday is the time to put it right.”

Angry Carsley lays into Ngog’s ‘embarrassing case of cheating’

• ‘Maybe it was not a penalty,’ admits Benítez after dive
• ‘I was nowhere near him. It’s a joke,’ bemoans Carsley

The Liverpool striker David Ngog was accused of indulging in “an embarrassing case of cheating” last night as a controversial penalty salvaged a draw against Birmingham City but left Rafael Benítez’s team seventh in the Premier League and 11 points behind leaders, Chelsea.

Liverpool were dominant but trailing 2-1 with 20 minutes remaining when the former Paris St Germain forward dived over a challenge from Lee Carsley and the referee, Peter Walton, pointed to the spot. Steven Gerrard, making his first appearance in five matches following an adductor problem, duly converted but Ngog’s theatrics prompted a furious response from Birmingham and Benítez admitted the award was dubious having spoken to the 20-year-old in the dressing room.

“I was absolutely nowhere near him. It’s a joke,” said Carsley, the former Everton midfielder. “I know I didn’t touch him and I said to the referee to book me or send me off. That would have made me feel better. I’m sure he has got a family but, if I went home having done that, I’d be embarrassed. You are supposed to be teaching your kids an example and this is just an embarrassing case of cheating. But the lad has taken a chance and got his team a point, so I’m sure they’ll be patting him on the back.”

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Ngog, in for the injured Fernando Torres, had given Liverpool a merited lead until Christian Benítez’s and Cameron Jerome’s first league goal of the season transformed the contest. The home side put Joe Hart’s goal under relentless pressure in the second half but beat the Birmingham goalkeeper thanks only to the game’s incendiary incident.

“He is a top referee,” said Alex McLeish, the City manager, “but he didn’t get that one right and I’m sure when he looks at it again he’ll see that Ngog dived. It was a terrific dive. Sometimes there is a debate over a penalty when there is contact but there was none here. It was not even close to being a penalty.”

Liverpool have now won only once in nine matches and their injury problems continued last night with both Albert Riera and Yossi Benayoun suffering hamstring injuries. The international break gives Liverpool respite on the injury front, with Torres to receive intensive treatment on a hernia over the next fortnight, but the result brought fresh frustration for Benítez.

“We have to be disappointed with a draw at home,” said the Liverpool manager. “The performance of the team was pretty good for me. We had plenty of possession, a lot of attempts and showed character until the end. Everyone in the stadium thought we would get a third goal but we just couldn’t do it.

“It was a pity to score with a penalty that maybe wasn’t a penalty. It is not fair sometimes but we have had a lot of things go against us this season and we deserved more from this game. It turned out to be positive for us. We attacked and attacked and we deserved to win but maybe it wasn’t a penalty.”

Benítez revealed he had questioned Ngog on the legitimacy of the penalty award. “I asked him about the penalty and he said maybe it wasn’t. I haven’t seen a replay but I spoke to him about it,” he said. The Liverpool manager also suspected Benayoun and Riera had torn their hamstrings, although a full diagnosis will be made today. He added: “Riera has the same problem and so does Yossi now. Also [Daniel] Agger felt something in his back. It is not serious but he felt it again.”

“Fernando had no confidence and so we started his treatment yesterday. We are not talking about an operation. He has to work with the physios and we will treat him properly. He will spend two or three weeks working with the physios and we will see how he reacts every day.”