MOYES

By The Nark End
March 1 2010

MOYES ADMITS THE FIRST HALF COST US.....

David Moyes said Everton did not deserve to lose at Tottenham but admitted a below-par performance in the first 45 minutes ultimately cost his side.

The Blues boss witnessed a Jekyll and Hyde display at White Hart Lane as goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Luka Modric gave Tottenham a two-goal lead at half time.

Yakubu pulled one back after the break but despite having much the better of the second period, the Blues could not muster an equaliser.

"We didn't deserve anything in the first half, that is for sure," Moyes said. "But by the end of the game we probably deserved something out of it. We just gave ourselves too big a mountain to climb in the first place."

Moyes was pleased with the response after the interval but said his players owed it to the supporters, adding: "It was a spirited second half but they needed it. After the first half performance they needed it and after the performance in midweek against Sporting they needed it, because they weren't good enough. The second half I can look at and say the supporters got their money's worth out of us, but they didn't in midweek or the first half today."

Landon Donovan missed one particularly gilt-edged chance to level the game, somehow firing wide from three-yards out and the manager confessed it may have proved a turning point if the American had converted.

"Landon's miss is one we're looking at and probably saying if that goes in it's two each with 10 minutes to go, we've got the momentum and we may well have gone on and won the game."

The manager also praised Phil Jagielka who impressed after replacing Leon Osman at half time.

"Phil made an undoubted difference," he said. "We looked as if we could deal with one on ones, we looked assured and more comfortable, and that made a big difference, it really did."