Wolves chew up hapless Toffees for late Christmas dinner

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 - 0 Everton

Everton are at Molineux to take on Wolves for their final game of 2023.

Doucocure and Gueye are still out injured. Sean Dyche makes two changes, with Keane and Calvert-Lewin returning to the starting line-up at the expense of Gomes and Beto.

Everton got things going in their silver strip and looked to play up but Wolves got in behind and they almost scored. Everton struggled to retain possession as it became something of a midfield ding-dong but Everton were caught out from their own attacking free-kick, Wolves on a counter through Hwang that they should have done more from with Everton all over the place, but somehow they kept the ball out. 

Harrison put in a decent ball where Calvert-Lewin should have been but wasn't. Harrison again looked to put one in but Everton's striker was still ambling forward, well behind the play. When Tarkowski did play a nice ball to him, he could not control it.   

Wolves got forward again and Cunha had a pop, just wide of Pickford's goal. Mykolenko did well to stop a cross but Everton were really struggling to keep the ball. Some great work from McNeil ended with an overhit pass in for Sa to collect. 

Mykolenko was very lucky not to be penalized for a silly drag on Semedo's arm when the ball was going out of play. Calvert-Lewin did well to collect a forward ball and play it in for McNeil to shoot high and wide of the angle. 

Patterson was carded for a clumsy foul on Gomes. Branthwaite had to defend at the expense of a corner that went behind off Tarkowski, who headed the next one away but it came right back in and the initial shot parried by Pickford but  was scrambled in by Kilman despite Branthwaite's and Tarkowski's efforts to block it on the line.  

McNeil did well to feed a perfect ball forward for Calvert-Lewin, who only had to dink it over the advancing Sa but his touch was poor and the shot bobbled across goal and wide. 

At the other end, very quick play by Wolves created another guilt-edged opportunity but Sarabia couldn't make contact. McNeil tried to release Harrison down the right but Semedo clearly cheated him with a trailing leg to win a free-kick. 

Onana had maybe twisted his ankle and went down for a second time, needing treatment before he came back on.  A poor backpass from Onana set up Hwang to give Tarkowski a torrid time, winning a free-kick that was eventually cleared.  

Ait Nouri was booked for delaying an Everton throw-in. Calvert-Lewin did well to intercept a strong forward ball but played the pass to Harrison all wrong. 

Another long ball forward to the speedy Hwang produced an unorthodox clearance from Pickford. Hwang was released again down the left but Pickford gathered it.  

Onana released Calvert-Lewin with a lovely through-ball but the striker's first touch was all wrong and Sa was able to get a hand on the ball before the Everton forward took a shot before his run was deemed offside.

Everton won a corner but it was overhit and eventually went behind for a goal-kick. A collision between Dawson and Calvert-Lewin led to Doyle and McNeil getting involved in a Japanese wrestling tussle, both booked before a rather unsatisfactory half for Everton was brought to an end. 

Everton worked the ball around well from the restart but it broke down and Semedo crossed just wide of the far post. Everton got the ball forward but Harrison's shot was way off, and Tarkwoski's shot was blocked by Dawson's nose. 

The action returned to the Everton area where a couple of shots needed blocking. But Hwang got through again and was able to drive the ball beyond Pickford to the far post where Cunha had outrun two Everton markers to bundle the ball in. 

Everton now had a mountain to climb with Dyche seemingly unwilling to make any changes just yet. It needed an Everton response but Wolves were now full of it and stepping in to pick up balls the Everton players expected to roll for them. 

Somehow, Tarkowski and Keane gifted the ball to Hwang who this time shot at goal himself, Pickford touching it onto the post for a corner. It looked like that had been cleared but a weak shot in and Dawson waved a foot at it to divert it past Pickford for a real stinker. 

Finally time for a few changes after the horse was galloping away into the distance… Coleman and Gomes on for Patterson and Keane. But Everton still could not make much impression until Gomes fed Calvert-Lewin for a neat feed to McNeil who fired a screamer onto the top of the Wolves post. 

Everton upped their game a little and some god play fed McNeil for a cross that someone should have been in place to tap home but wasn't. Wolves countered and should have had a fourth but for a fine one-handed save by Pickford.

But Everton were sliced open again and Hwang curled a beautiful finish around Pickford,... but he had made his run from an offside position. Dyche seemed surprised at the effect his changes had finally made, bringing on Beto and Danjuma for Calvert-Lewin and McNeil.

But the net result was that Everton were even more open to the Wolves counter, bringing everyone back for a corner when Sarabia's shot had been deflected behind. 

Still Everton played up as if they could get something from this game, but Mykoleno's cross was meat and drink for Sa to collect. And the speedy Wolves runners came so close to scoring again on the counter, with Everton backpedalling once again. 

Everton came forward again and won a corner but it was cleared by the first defender. More Wolves changes pretty much killed the game.  Everton huffed and puffed until they lost the ball and Wolves scampered forward again, Neto going for glory with his wild strike before an astounding 9 minutes were added on. 

Everton got themselves in trouble again with Coleman getting caught and Pickford passing out to a Wolves player. But the fine finish by Neto was ruled out for offside. 

And so ended a really disappointing performance for Everton, who were perhaps missing Doucoure and Gueye more than they should be? 

Wolves: Jose Sa, Kilman, Dawson, Gomes (85' Traore), Nelson Semedo (85' Doherty), Joao Gomes, Doyle [Y:45+3'], Ait Nouri [Y:43'], Hwang, Sarabia (80' Bellegarde), Matheus Cunha (80' Pedro Neto). 

Subs not Used: Santiago Bueno, Hugo Bueno, Kalajdzic, Bentley, Hodge.

Everton: Pickford, Keane (63' Gomes), Tarkowski [Y:66'], Branthwaite, Patterson [Y:23'] (63' Coleman), Onana, Garner, Mykolenko, Harrison, McNeil [Y:45+3'] (74' Danjuma), Calvert-Lewin (74' Beto).

Subs not Used: Virginia, Godfrey, Chermiti, Hunt, Dobbin.

 

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