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Everton Tossed out of UEFA Cup |
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Thursday, 13 March 2008 |
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While one Italian team got knocked out by a Liverpool side two nights ago, another Italian team kicked the other Liverpool team out of another. It was heartbreak for an English team in the other end of Europe football when Everton was kicked out, literally through penalties. And manager David Moyes said that he expects his side to recover in time for the Sunday match up against Fulham to continue their quest for Champions League football next season. With a 2 goal advantage, Fiorentina would have pretty much been in cruise control, but it was Everton who pushed forward and successfully bring themselves up to level terms when Andrew Johnson and Mikel Arteta levelled the score. But for Everton, the fairy tale ended there. there were no goals to show in extra time and the penalties have to be used to decide the new quarterfinlaist. From the spot, Phil Jagielka and Ayegbeni Yakubu failed and Fiorentina goes through. Moyes, in defending his team for a superb performance turning the tie around, said that "We will dust ourselves down and move on. We have nine Premier League games left and we can look forward in a positive frame of mind as we are playing well." he also commented that it could have been the Toffees qualifying for the grit and quality they displayed throughout the game, "I am disappointed we have not made it through. But it was some effort. 'Maybe it comes down to missed opportunities - we should have scored a third goal in the 90 minutes. We battered them. Their goalkeeper got lucky a couple of times and made some good saves. We did a lot more to them than they did to us in Florence." But it was not going to be this season for Everton, who have nine games unbeaten so far.
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