Everton fightback to secure win

01 October 2009 19:16
Tim Cahill capped a superb comeback by Everton, scoring the winner as they beat BATE Borisov 2-1 in the Europa League. The Australian midfielder found the target after 77 minutes, when he sprung the offside trap then hoisted a shot over the goalkeeper. Everton had equalised nine minutes earlier through Marouane Fellaini, who cancelled out the opener from Dmitri Likhtarovich. Everton almost took the lead after 13 minutes with Diniyar Bilyaletdinov left cursing his luck. The Russian winger saw his powerful 20-yard shot come back off the post after Ayegbeni Yakubu had carved out the opening. BATE responded and made the breakthrough with Dmitri Likhtarovich scoring a goal out of the blue, latching onto a loose ball 30 yards out and thumping a shot high over goalkeeper Tim Howard. That got the home crowd going and gave BATE an early boost - they lost their opening game to Benfica. Everton almost drew level in the 26th minute when Yakubu released Cahill inside the six-yard box - but the Australian midfielder failed to get a decent connection and his effort was deflected wide. The Australian was left shaking his head in frustration after failing to take a clear chance. Everton again pushed forward in the 37th minute and Fellaini laid the ball back to Leon Osman, skipper on the night, but his effort was blocked. Everton drew level in the 68th minute when BATE failed to deal with a Leighton Baines free-kick. Fellaini got on the end of it at the far post and found the corner of the net. They went ahead in the 77th minute after a swift counter-attack that stunned the hosts. Bilyaletdinov headed the ball on and Cahill sprung the offside trap before hoisting a shot over the goalkeeper.

Source: Eurosport