Everton 1 Wolves 3: Nuno's men impress as Silva's woes worsen

Everton's inconsistent form under Marco Silva continued as Wolves won 3-1 to secure its first victory at Goodison Park since 1979.

Published : Feb 02, 2019 23:06 IST

Raul Jimenez celebrates his goal at Everton.
Raul Jimenez celebrates his goal at Everton.
lightbox-info

Raul Jimenez celebrates his goal at Everton.

Wolves piled further pressure on under-fire Everton boss Marco Silva with an entertaining 3-1 win at Goodison Park on Saturday.

The Toffees' patchy results this season have seen the Portuguese's position come under intense scrutiny and he will not be sitting any more comfortably after Wolves picked up a third straight Premier League victory to cement its place just outside the top six.

Ruben Neves' early penalty had Nuno Espirito Santo's side ahead but Everton was level midway through the first half thanks to Andre Gomes' thumping first goal for the club.

However, slack marking from a free-kick allowed Raul Jimenez to head home on the stroke of half-time and Leander Dendoncker smashed in a volley midway through the second period to secure Wolves' first win at Goodison in 40 years.

Everton had taken the lead inside three minutes of its win at Huddersfield Town on Tuesday but it was its turn to fall behind early on here as Leighton Baines felled Matt Doherty and Neves calmly converted the spot-kick.

The host almost gifted Wolves a second in the 20th minute when Tom Davies lost the ball and Jimenez fed Dendoncker, who was denied by Jordan Pickford at close quarters.

Rui Patricio surged out to thwart Theo Walcott as Everton sought a response, which duly arrived in the 27th minute thanks to Gomes' rasping drive into the roof of the net from 18 yards.

But Wolves restored its advantage as Jimenez rose unchallenged to head Joao Moutinho's delivery into the bottom-left corner.

And the visitor earned some breathing space as the rebound from Diogo Jota's blocked attempt fell straight to Dendoncker to lash home from eight yards - capping an impressive day for Wolves and a torrid one for Silva and Everton.

What does it mean? Wolves the best of the rest

Wins over Leicester City, West Ham and now Everton have seen Wolves rise to seventh on the table. The usual suspects make up the top six, which has proven almost impossible to break into, but there can be no doubt that Nuno's men offer a tough test for anyone in this division.

A cat-astrophic day for Everton, Wolves 'feline' good

Amid a miserable afternoon for Everton fans, there was some light relief in the aftermath of Wolves' third goal as a black cat strayed onto the pitch and delayed proceedings for a couple of minutes before the intruder was eventually chased away by a steward.

Toffees come unstuck at the back once more

Everton's shaky defence has been cause for concern for most of the season and they contributed to their own downfall again as Baines' clumsy foul led to the first goal and no one picked up Jimenez for the second.

What's next?

It does not get any easier for Everton, which hosts champion Manchester City on Wednesday. Wolves has an FA Cup fourth-round replay at home to Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday before returning to league action against Newcastle United a week on Monday.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment