Uefa Cup first round, second leg / Everton 1 Dinamo Bucharest 0 (Dinamo Bucharest won 5-2 on aggregate): Everton may at last have found some benefit in the European competitions that have caused them such pain.
Knocked out of first the Champions League and now the Uefa Cup, they return to domestic football in the knowledge that they gave a competent display here. They could not, however, use the lead Tim Cahill's gave them to erode seriously the 5-1 lead built by Dinamo Bucharest in Romania.
Duncan Ferguson was one person who ought to be denied any praise. Booked for one incident in his feud with the centre-half Gabriel Tamas he ought to have been dismissed for elbowing him with 10 minutes left. Dinamo's Mihaita Plesan was lucky, too just to be cautioned for the challenge that saw Mikel Arteta stretchered off with three minutes left.
Everton, despite the mayhem, had been far more orderly than they have been in the tumble to the Premiership table. The situation may not be as dire as mockers suggest. Hope or, at least, stubborness certainly made the stands busier than expected and the team did what it could to raise the volume among the 21,483 spectators.
There were chances in the opening half-hour even though David Moyes had no intention of being reckless. He had even deliberated over his defence, dropping his veteran captain David Weir and pairing Joseph Yobo with Matteo Ferrari instead. When attempting the near-impossible it is important to have well-prepared foundations, even if Weir soon had to be involved as a substitute for the injured Tony Hibbert.
Cahill's goal in the 27th minute made an old-fashioned British approach, refurbished with the help of a couple of foreigners, look more like historic treasure than junk. The Spaniard Mikel Arteta jinked on the right before slinging over the deep cross that was nodded back by Ferguson and headed home by the Australian Cahill.
Moyes brought on James Beattie and Marcus Bent in desperation but it had become clear that it would be Dinamo's name in the draw for the group stage of the Uefa Cup.
EVERTON: Martyn, Hibbert (Weir 24), Yobo, Ferrari, Nuno Valente (Bent 68), Cahill, Neville, Arteta, Kilbane (Beattie 68), McFadden, Ferguson. Subs Not Used: Wright, Li Tie, Osman, Wilson. Booked: Nuno Valente, McFadden, Ferguson. Goals: Cahill 28.
DINAMO BUCHAREST: Hayeu, Galamaz, Tamas, Moti, Christian Pulhac, Petre, Margaritescu, Stefan Grigorie, Plesan, Bratu (Chihaia 84), Zicu (Baltoi 75). Subs Not Used: Mariko, Goian, Cristea, Vlad Munteanu, Matache. Booked: Bratu, Petre, Baltoi, Plesan.
Referee: Laurent Duhamel (France).
