Everton	1 - 0	Zenit St Petersburg
Scorers Cahill 85  Booked Johnson 39	Half Time ( 0 - 0 )	Booked Pogrebniak 22 Shirl 34  Sent Off Lombaerts 30

A Tim Cahill goal five minutes from time against 10-man Zenit St Petersburg made sure Everton grabbed the group’s top spot and qualified for the last 32 of the UEFA Cup.

David Moyes made changes to his side as he faced the prospect of eight games in just over three weeks. Joseph Yobo was out with an ankle injury, but Tim Howard had recovered from a virus to take his place in goal. And he was joined in the starting line-up by Leighton Baines at full-back, James McFadden and Phil Jagielka.

Everton started the game well and pushed the Russians back, with Andrew Johnson and McFadden both making inroads at the back.

Kim Dong Jin was Zenit’s early hero when he cleared Arteta’s hook off the line then headed Cahill’s follow-up shot clear. And the visitors remained resolute despite the pressure from the home side.

Mikel Arteta missed a golden opportunity to give the home side a lead when he missed a penalty with half an hour gone. Nicolas Lombaerts was adjudged to have blocked Cahill’s tight-angled shot with his hand and after the Zenit player was controversially dismissed, Arteta stepped up to the spot but blasted the ball over the bar.

The Spaniard almost made amends later when he curled in a free-kick which goalkeeper Malafeev did well to keep out.

And it was Everton who continued to look the more likely to take the lead as Zenit were rocked by the sending off. As they inched closer to a goal, Lee Carsley hit the post with a shot from distance. And to make things worse for the Russians, they lost the influential Dominguez to an ankle injury shortly before half-time.

But as the second-half started it hardly looked as though Zenit were a man down. The interval had given them time to re-group and re-think. And it almost brought an immediate result.

Pogrebniak broke away and ran 30-yards only to see Tim Howard keep his shot out. And just minutes later Andrey Arshavin’s chip released Zyrianov but he put his shot over the crossbar.

David Moyes replaced McFadden with Victor Anichebe as Everton tried to push forward, looking for the vital goal in front of their home crowd. But they struggled to find the breakthrough in the final third and Zenit continued to look dangerous on the break.

But as the game entered the final 10 minutes, the Toffees finally found the goal they were looking for. Joleon Lescott’s effort was only parried by the goalkeeper and Australian Tim Cahill was first to react as he stabbed home from close range to give Everton the victory they deserved.

Everton’s victory came from sheer persistence and hard-work against a relentless Russian side. They worked hard for their victory and now have a good chance of progression in the knock-out stages.

Zenit are worthy of their recent title of Russian champions and could well have grabbed the draw they needed to progress had the referee not harshly dismissed Lombaerts. They certainly put up a brave fight but just couldn’t hold out as Everton piled on the pressure with the clock ticking down.


Everton: Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Pienaar, Cahill, Carsley, Arteta, Johnson (Vaughan 81), McFadden (Anichebe 64).

Subs Not Used: Wessels, Gravesen, Osman, Yakubu, Boyle.

Zenit St Petersburg: Malafeev, Aniukov (Lee 78), Skrtel, Lombaerts, Kim, Tymoschuk, Zurianov, Shirl, Arshavin, Dominguez (Gorshkov 45), Pogrebniak (Hagen 61).

Subs Not Used: Contofalsky, Radimov, Ionov, Lebedev.

Att: 38,407

Ref: Kristinn Jakobsson (Iceland).

By Ben Hughes