Everton into knockout stages
Cahill was on hand to give Everton victory over the Russian champions
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Wednesday, 05, Dec 2007 10:55
Tim Cahill assured Everton's progress into the knockout stages of the Uefa Cup after the Toffees beat Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 at Goodison Park.
David Moyes' men struggled to break down the determined Russian side who were reduced to ten men for the majority of the match but eventually profited from their attacking ascendancy.
Cahill almost scored in the opening minutes of the game but saw Kim Dong-jin clear his effort off the line.
Everton squandered an excellent chance to take the lead in the 29th minute when they were awarded a penalty.
Nicolas Lombaerts was unlucky to be sent off for a deliberate handball when he looked to have blocked Cahill's goal-bound shot with his chest.
But Mikel Arteta failed to convert the resulting penalty, blasting his shot over the crossbar.
The Spaniard almost made amends for the miss before half time but Vyacheslav Malafeev managed to get a hand to his curling free-kick.
Despite Everton's territorial advantage Zenit carved out two excellent chances for themselves in the second half.
First Tim Howard was called into action to deny Pavel Pogrebniak before Konstantin Zyrianov blazed his shot over the bar when he was one-on-one with the keeper.
However the Toffees claimed the winner when Cahill eventually broke the deadlock with five minutes remaining.
Arteta's corner broke to Joleon Lescott and when his shot was blocked the Australian was on hand to tuck away the rebound.
The win means Everton will finish top of their group after AZ Alkmaar lost 2-1 away to Nuremburg.