Moyes shrugs off praise after supersub Victor inspires Everton in Germany

 Add your view

Victor Anichebe came off the bench like a man on a mission last night and effectively propelled Everton into the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup.

He was carrying a broken hand into battle, but his was the fist of power that delivered the sucker punch to a German side desperate to go one better than Bayern Munich had against Bolton.

Goal hero: Anichebe with Pienaar

The Nigeria Under 21 striker had only 15 minutes on the pitch when he replaced Aiyegbeni Yakubu with David Moyes' men still goalless in the EasyCredit Stadium.

He did not hang around. Within eight minutes of joining the fray he was in the heart of Nuremberg's penalty area and exasperated Brazilian defender Glauber hauled him down.

Mikel Arteta, who had tried and tried again to unpick the German defence, coolly stroked home the spot-kick after 83 minutes.

That only left Anichebe to add his own finishing touch to Everton's big European night. He cut in from the touchline in the 88th minute and his powerful, angled shot beat goalkeeper

Jaromir Blazek. Anichebe's brand of muscular forward play was the ace in the hole for Everton, who now top the group ahead of Zenit St Petersburg, who are next up at Goodison Park.

Thanks to his intervention, Everton can afford to draw that encounter and might even find their pre-Christmas trip to AZ Alkmaar becomes a dead rubber.

Moyes shrugged aside congratulations for his 'inspired substitution', saying: "It was a decision we might have made earlier, but we were concerned a bit about his injury. He's not been training a lot. But there you go. Victor came on and did really well.

"He's one of those blokes who doesn't have to do weight training, he's naturally strong. At times he's probably been better coming off the bench, but his football is improving."

Moyes had urged Everton's fans before the tie to be on their best behaviour, with the authorities fearing trouble and UEFA cancelling 1,500 tickets outside the official away end that were bought online.

But even though Nuremberg's club shop blithely sold tickets to all and sundry throughout the day, Everton's estimated 5,000 following were as well behaved as they were vocal in their support.

Moyes added: "'There was no need for motivational speeches tonight. Our fans were a big inspiration to us and a real credit to the club as well."

Everton might have been ahead from well inside half a minute, but after Blazek parried Arteta's rasping shot, he scrambled Tim Cahill's follow-up against the post.

Cahill was inches away from an opener in a first half that rarely saw Everton stretched, but for all their endeavours it was looking like a deserved if slightly disappointing point until Anichebe lit the place up.

 

What's on today   What's on tomorrow

Receive our newsletter