EVERTON forced their way into the UEFA Cup's last 32 after a 1-0 triumph over Dick Advocaat's Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg, with boss David Moyes hailing match winner Tim Cahill.
Cahill, who has missed long spells this season recovering from a broken metatarsal, scored his sixth goal in nine games to keep Everton's European adventure alive.
And Moyes said: "Tim popped up again with the winner, but that is what he does. I don't send him out telling him to score goals, he just does that anyway.
"It was Tim who forced their player into the offence that won us the penalty, and then he was there on the line to force the ball home when everyone else had stopped.
"He always goes out to score, he always wants to score. He is a very important player for us and his influence is growing game by game."
Mikel Arteta missed that early penalty, which left Zenit with 10 men after Nicolas Lombaerts was wrongly sent off for that handling offence.
Zenit's Dutch coach Dick Advocaat blasted the decision saying: "The referee got that one wrong, it left us with 10 men for an hour and cost us the game."
But Moyes would disagree with that view, even if he accepted that Lombaerts did not handle the ball.
Moyes said: "The penalty was a bit harsh, but we are having trouble with them at the moment, they just won't go in, it's the third we have missed in the competition.
"But they were unlucky with the penalty and the sending off, at the time I could not see it but now I have watched the replay on TV the ball looked to hit the lad's body, it didn't look like hand-ball.
"It hit his body and thigh so Zenit were definitely unlucky over that, and it cost them a player too."
He added: "But we deserved to win. We has most of the best players on the pitch and that against the Russian champions who had plenty of players in the Russia side that beat England recently.
"We hit the post and had plenty more chances. But we were the better side and deserved to go through.
"If we keep playing as well as we are, with the tempo and movement, we will continue to do well.
"We have different players, different formations and that gives us confidence. It means we can be more unpredictable in the way we play.
"But we won't get carried away. We are, though, enjoying ourselves and there is a lot more to come."
And Moyes said: "Tim popped up again with the winner, but that is what he does. I don't send him out telling him to score goals, he just does that anyway.
"It was Tim who forced their player into the offence that won us the penalty, and then he was there on the line to force the ball home when everyone else had stopped.
"He always goes out to score, he always wants to score. He is a very important player for us and his influence is growing game by game."
Mikel Arteta missed that early penalty, which left Zenit with 10 men after Nicolas Lombaerts was wrongly sent off for that handling offence.
Zenit's Dutch coach Dick Advocaat blasted the decision saying: "The referee got that one wrong, it left us with 10 men for an hour and cost us the game."
But Moyes would disagree with that view, even if he accepted that Lombaerts did not handle the ball.
Moyes said: "The penalty was a bit harsh, but we are having trouble with them at the moment, they just won't go in, it's the third we have missed in the competition.
"But they were unlucky with the penalty and the sending off, at the time I could not see it but now I have watched the replay on TV the ball looked to hit the lad's body, it didn't look like hand-ball.
"It hit his body and thigh so Zenit were definitely unlucky over that, and it cost them a player too."
He added: "But we deserved to win. We has most of the best players on the pitch and that against the Russian champions who had plenty of players in the Russia side that beat England recently.
"We hit the post and had plenty more chances. But we were the better side and deserved to go through.
"If we keep playing as well as we are, with the tempo and movement, we will continue to do well.
"We have different players, different formations and that gives us confidence. It means we can be more unpredictable in the way we play.
"But we won't get carried away. We are, though, enjoying ourselves and there is a lot more to come."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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