Moyes - We can still qualify

Toffees boss acknowledges lack of quality in defeat by Benfica

Last updated: 5th November 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Moyes - We can still qualify

Moyes: Lack of quality

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David Moyes believes Everton can still reach the last 32 of the Europa League despite suffering another defeat by Benfica.

Just a fortnight after losing 5-0 in Portugal, Everton were unable to exact revenge at Goodison Park as second-half goals from Javier Saviola and Oscar Cardozo earned Benfica a 2-0 win.

Benfica are now three points clear at the top of Group I, but Everton remain in second spot, two points ahead of AEK Athens and BATE Borisov.

The Toffees travel to Athens for their next match and then finish off the group at home to Borisov, with Moyes optimistic of qualifying for the knockout phase.

"We hope so," replied Moyes when asked if he thought his team could still qualify.

"We have tough games coming up and we knew the group was never going to be easy and it will prove that way, I am sure."

Confidence

Moyes believes a slight lack of quality in defence and attack contributed to the defeat, with the Everton boss keen to avoid discussing the number of players unavailable for the game.

He added: "I think Benfica are a good side and it was a tough game, but it was tighter than the last one.

"We became a little open in the second half, maybe trying to score, and we got done on the counter for the first goal.

"We still had four defenders back though, and the goals weren't like the goals in Benfica.

"One ricocheted off our player and fell to them, so I didn't think the goals were beautiful; they were poor defensive moments for us.

"Tonight we did lack quality (going forward). But we knew that before the game, it wasn't something that surprised us.

"We are trying to talk about the players in the team and give them some confidence and some of them did okay, there were one or two good performances."