Everton undone in Florence

Toffee's face sticky job after Florence defeat
Fiorentina 2 (Kuzmanovic, Montolivo)
Everton 0
By Daniel Gregory 06/03/08

Everton will have to produce something magical in the second leg at Goodison Park next week to overcome a 2-0 deficit, after a poor display in Florence.

David Moyes' men were comprehensively beaten by a far superior Fiorentina side, who kept the ball better than the Blues, and had that extra touch of class up front, scoring two glorious goals to put themselves very much in the driving seat ahead of next Wednesday's return.

Everton struggled to keep possession throughout, and lacked a cutting edge up front, with Yakubu left stranded at times, and outnumbered by a typically strong Italian defence. Conditions didn't help Everton in the first half, playing into a fierce wind in the first period and having to work hard to keep a vibrant Fiorentina attack at bay.

Tim Howard was in fine form, making a good stop with his feet from veteran Italian striker Christian Vieri, and looking comfortable collecting high balls and crosses despite the high winds.

The sides returned for the second period, and with the wind that hampered Everton in the first half almost completely dying out, Fiorentina found it easier to play their way out of defence, and began to assert their authority on proceedings.

Tim Howard was forced into action on two occasions in quick succession, making two good stops down to his left, but was unable to stop La Viola taking a crucial lead moments later when Zdravko Kuzmanovic found a yard of space on the edge of the area, and neatly side footed a curling shot inside Howard's near post.

Fiorentina continued to dominate and doubled their lead when substitute Mario Santana managed to get behind Joleon Lescott and cross to Danish International Martin Jorgensen who produced a magically deft flick onto the impressive Argentinian Riccardo Montolivo, who fired an ecsquisit volley with the outside of his foot that again gave Howard no chance.

With Everton going out for an important away goal after introducing Andy Johnson, Fiorentina had a glorious opportunity to further their lead and put the tie to bed when Santan got in behind the Blues back line and saw his curling effort miss the post by a whisker.

Everton will want to put this display behind them, and will need to produce something special at Goodison next Wednesday to stand any chance of going through to the last 8.

EVERTON: Howard (9) Hibbert (6) Yobo (5) Jagielka(5)
Lescott (5) Neville (6) Carsley (6) Pienaar (6) Osman (5)
Cahill (6) Yakubu (6) SUBS: Arteta (6) Johnson (6)

Man of the match: Riccardo Montolivo