Source: Telegraph
AEK Athens 0 Everton 1: match report
There but for the grace of God goes David Moyes. The Everton manager may have a squad decimated by injury, work for a club whose financial state is so parlous that his most successful season in charge generated only a £6.7 million loss and the prospect of a new stadium, a new start, may be more remote than ever, but even he must feel blessed when he looks at AEK Athens. [LNB]Ostracised to the cavernous concrete bowl of Athens' Olympic Stadium after their own home was rendered uninhabitable by an earthquake, AEK have a patchwork pitch which claimed three injury victims here inside half an hour and, on Wednesday night, could only boast a patchwork team. [LNB] Related ArticlesMoyes vows to stand by EvertonMoyes backed amid Everton financial woesPienaar: Everton must get out of this messPremier League set for record transfer windowTim Cahill: Everton 'too good' to go downSport on televisionSeveral senior players, led by the Argentine duo of Nacho Scocco and Ismael Blanco, reportedly failed to arrive on time for the game in protest at not being paid for six weeks after the club's finances were frozen pending a takeover. Coach Dusan Bajevic, himself owed more than a month's salary, was forced to pack his side with the inexperienced and the insufficient. [LNB]For all Moyes's troubles, for all the concern over Everton's present - this was only their second win in 12 games, and they hover perilously close to the Premier League's relegation zone for a club of their stature - and the uncertainty over his own future, his multi-million pound players are paid their multi-million pound salaries on time. Everton may be paupers by the gluttonous, bloated standards of the Premier League, but it is a cosseted world, devoid of perspective. Bajevic, on the other hand, works at football's coalface. [LNB]Moyes can probably empathise more than most, though. Everton's luck, despite their victory and subsequent qualification for the last 32 of the Europa League, remains wretched. The Scot had expressed his doubts over the playing surface on Tuesday night, and a constant downpour throughout the day had raised the spectre of the game being called off until kick-off. [LNB]When first Dan Gosling, thanks a twisted ankle, and then Sylvain Distin, after a recurrence of his hamstring injury, were carried off, Moyes may have regretted not trying to persuade referee Claudio Circhetta the pitch, part ice rink, part rutted Aintree turf, was not up to scratch. [LNB]Plenty of sturm, then, but little or no drang, at least not after Diniyar Bilyaletdinov swept home Marouane Fellaini's impeccably judged, considering the conditions, defence-splitting pass after just six minutes. It was almost the only attack worthy of the name. Injuries - the hosts lost Grigoris Makos midway through the first half, too - disrupted both sides' rhythm, the rain dampened their enthusiasm and the pitch frayed their nerves. [LNB]There was little to excite the sparse, laconic fans, huddled in whatever shelter they could find, beyond the occasional deafening boom of firecrackers. The first half meandered to a dismal close, and the second offered an incremental improvement at best. Youssouf Hersi, erstwhile Ajax wonder boy, dragged one shot just wide of Tim Howard for the hosts, Jo - yet another to leave the field injured - promptly did the same for Everton. [LNB]Gustavo Manduca, another refusenik, saw his shot cleared off the line by Seamus Coleman and Tony Hibbert - equalling the club's European appearance record, on 18 - produced two stunning blocks, but in truth AEK's threat, even as they poured forward in search of a goal to keep their European campaign alive. [LNB]Yet that Everton's novice backline was enough to hold firm fits these two sides' circumstances perfectly. Everton may be at breaking point, but their opponents are beyond it. Qualification assured, his club solvent, if not exactly on a par with Croesus. Moyes has much to be thankful for, despite it all. [LNB]
