'Felt as if': David Moyes reacts to Sunderland penalty shootout defeat and delivers verdict on Everton performance
Sunderland knocked Everton out of the FA Cup on penalties
David Moyes admitted he was frustrated with his Everton penalty takers after Robin Roefs saved all three in the shootout to secure Sunderland's place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Moyes said he was reluctant to blame his players after a threadbare squad took Sunderland to penalties, albeit aided by a controversial penalty award right at the end of normal time. Moyes did add, though, that there was a 'way to lose' in a shootout and his side had not done that. Roefs guessed well to save from James Garner as the midfielder switched sided from his goal in normal time, before comfortably denying weak efforts from strikers Thierno Barry and Beto.
"I don't think you blame anybody when you lose the penalty shoot-out," Moyes said.
“It's something which can happen. The goalkeeper's there to make saves. But I think there's a way to lose if you're going to do that.
“It felt as if we didn't look as if we'd done it in that way. I think that's why we've all walked away with huge disappointment. We'd done a great job to get back in the game and get ourselves level with what was available today. But overall, when we get to that point, you're hoping that we go on and win it. It was poor. I don't want to be sort of, someone has to win a penalty shoot-out, somebody has to lose it. But I do think there's a way to win it and there's a way to lose it."
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David Moyes's verdict on Everton's performance against Sunderland
Moyes said he was pleased with his players efforts in the second half after a sluggish start to the game, with Enzo Le Fee giving Sunderland a deserved lead in the first half.
"Disappointed with the outcome in the end," Moyes said.
"We didn't play well in the first half, got much better in the second half. We stuck at it in extra time and went out on penalties. We changed it a little bit at half-time to try and get more. I thought the players showed that, even if it was only just more energy to show the public that we were keen to get through. I think the players did a great job. We got back in the game through a penalty kick. But really, for us to go on and win, we were struggling to find enough solutions. Every time we were thinking of a solution, there was a worry that somebody else could break down. We needed to take them off and we were short on those options.
"You have to say Sunderland are a good team. I think Sunderland have played really well away from home against most sides this season.
"We knew they would cause us some problems. They did do it, but we worked on what we thought we would do to try and solve it. But it didn't come up and we had to slightly alter it at half-time. But overall, except for the first half, the players tried their best to get us a result."
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