Moyes slams out-of-touch Everton

David Moyes said Everton got what they deserved in their 2-1 home loss to Bolton Wanderers.

Everton had led thanks to goalkeeper Tim Howard’s clearance which looped over opposite number Adam Bogdan in the windy conditions.

However, fine finishes from David Ngog and Gary Cahill handed Bolton their fifth victory of the season, lifting them off the bottom.

“We didn’t deserve to be in front and Bolton deserved to win the game so I’ve got no qualms with the result because you can’t perform like that and expect to win,” Moyes said.

“The conditions are never good to play in like that but both teams have to play in it. I think it’s easier to play away from home when it’s like that because you have to make a bit of play but we didn’t make any play tonight.”

“I’ve got no arguments about the result, it was a freak that we were 1-0 up.”

“I give Bolton a bit of credit, they worked really hard to get the result and we didn’t perform as well as we have. Bolton stuck at it and got their deserved reward in the end.”

Moyes, 48, also argued that a change of system, which saw his side drop their usual lone-striker formation to accommodate two attackers, had not contributed to their poor display.

“We tried to go with two centre forwards tonight and I think if we hadn’t, some might have questioned it.”

“We just didn’t perform though, that wasn’t the reason we lost the game. Apart from our goalkeeper and bits of Landon it’d be hard to say many positives.”

Bolton manager Owen Coyle believes his side can avoid relegation after they moved off the bottom of the table.

“It was a big win but a merited win,” Coyle said.

“We knew that we had to be at our best and we were. I have always said we can avoid relegation. We have players who would get into most Premier League sides.”

Coyle said that he thought it would not be his side’s day when Howard scored.

“With the wind and conditions, Tim Howard scored with a freakish goal,” he said.

“Adam Bogdan was magnificent and was in a good position. The lad certainly wasn’t at fault. At that point, I felt the luck was going to go against us. I thought the bad luck we had in 2011 had followed us into 2012.”

“But we still believe in what we are doing. We had created good chances before their goal – and we had the belief, character and resilience to come back.”

“After the equaliser, we didn’t sit back. A lot of teams in our position would have been happy with a point at Goodison. We pushed on and capitalised.”