Moyes salute for unlucky Everton

Everton manager David Moyes sympathised with his defeated side

Everton boss David Moyes paid a glowing tribute to his side after they lost 4-2 on penalties to Italians Fiorentina in the last 16 of the Uefa Cup.

They won the second leg 2-0 to draw the tie level, but lost 4-2 to the Serie A side in the spot-kick shoot-out.

Moyes said: "I am disappointed we have not made it through. But it was some effort. We battered them.

"The players deserve great credit. We put in a hard shift but got no reward and that is hard to take."

Everton produced a superb performance to dominate Fiorentina, but Yakubu hit the post with his penalty and the outstanding Phil Jagielka saw his effort saved by keeper Sebastien Frey - the Italian side scoring with every spot-kick.

Moyes said: "Maybe it comes down to missed opportunities - we should have scored a third goal in the 90 minutes.

"Their goalkeeper got lucky a couple of times and made some good saves."

Fiorentina 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."