Moyes proud despite defeat March 13 2008
Everton manager David Moyes praised his side despite their failure to progress in the UEFA Cup courtesy of Fiorentina.
Chasing a 2-0 deficit, goals from Andrew Johnson and Mikel Arteta brought them level with Fiorentina on aggregate.
However, the Italians advanced to the quarter-finals 4-2 on penalties on a dramatic night at Goodison Park.
Ayegbeni Yakubu and Phil Jagielka both failed to covert their spot-kicks, leaving Mario Santana to claim the spoils.
Moyes said: "I am disappointed we have not made it through. But it was some effort.
"Maybe it comes down to missed opportunities - we should have scored a third goal in the 90 minutes.
"We battered them. Their goalkeeper got lucky a couple of times and made some good saves.
"We did a lot more to them tonight than they did to us in Florence.
"The players deserve great credit. We put in a hard shift but got no reward and that is hard to take."
Johnson opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Sebastian Frey made a mess of a cross from Steven Pienaar.
Frey then redeemed himself with a string of good saves before Arteta brought the teams level after 66 minutes with a stunning strike.
Everton kept up the pace but Fiorentina held firm in front of a passionate home crowd.
Coach Cesar Prandelli said: "I have to congratulate my team as it was a great achievement.
"I am very satisfied, especially the way we took our penalties, as it was a hard game.
"I thought my side was fresher towards the end of the match as Everton were pressing all the time."