Wolves 1 – 1 Everton
After their warm-weather break in the UAE, Everton came through a difficult and competitive televised encounter at the Molineux stadium unbeaten for an 8th game, preserving the 10-point gap between the sides.
Everton kicked off in the time-honoured manner. Beto competed well for some early forward balls. Garner swung in an early free kick but Tarkowski was harshly called for a foul on Andre. Beto set up an early chance for Doucoure to strike but his shot was blocked.
Mykolenko got the ball in to Doucoure who struggled to make space before firing at Sa. The corner won came in from Garner, an excellent delivery that Branthwaite headed goalward, forcing another corner off a defender. Harrison delivered from the other side and his second phase cross should have been turned in by Beto from close range, but wasn’t.
Everton pressed high but suffered a turnover and Ait-Nuri could advance, his shot deflected wide for a corner, that was exceptionally well delivered, headed goalward by Munetsi and somehow kept out by Pickford. Andre then fired high and wide. The pace of the game was good and it was fairly open, Everton needing to defend with discipline.
O’Brien got forward and controlled a probing pass superbly but there was no-one to receive his low cross. Gana tried to feed Beto but the ball was too fast for him. A better move saw Harrison fire in a poor cross that was just too far in front of Beto.
In midfield, a sloppy loss of possession by Gana was thankfully not punished. O’Brien caught Ait Nuri, conceding a free-kick. Another forward venture saw Lindstrom feed Jack Harrison cross-field and his strike took a nice deflection that saw it bobble past Sa and into the far corner of the net to give The Blues a nice lead.
In response, Gomes lashed a decent shot just wide with Pickford scrambling. Mykolenko then had to give up a corner in a contest with Semedo, Another attack somehow sliced right through the Everton defence, Branthwaite drawn away from the line of the ball that found Munetsi, who diverted it past Pickford far too easily, restoring parity.
A Wolves corner was half-cleared, Pickford belting it out of play. Wolves kept pushing Everton back until the break, all square.
Everton lacked cohesion in the early passages of play following the restart, losing the ball too easily. A better move saw Harrison win a corner that Garner swung deep to the far post where it was defended clear but Lindstrom was then fouled and Garner delivered a free-kick deep, Docucoure unable to strike the ball cleanly.
Sarabia almost worked his way through but Branthwaite stalled him. But a foul allowed Wolves to reset their attack. Sarabia fired in a superb strike from the free-kick that so nearly caught out Pickford, slicing off the side netting.
A central free-kick was hit too far by Garner, easily saved by Sa and Wolves could rebuild their attack. A better spell of play for Everton saw Gueye produce his usual hopeless effort in the vague direction of goal. A foul by Gana saw Sarabia’s sly ball guided harmlessly behind. But Wolves kept up the pressure.
David Moyes had to wait till after the hour mark before Alcaraz and Iroegbunam could join the action, Doucoure and Lindstrom going off. Semedo won a corner off Mykolenko, Sarabia’s far post delivery repelled by the Blues defence.
Alcaraz showed great drive but it was not supported by the rest of the side, with Graner wasting a cross, sent straight to Sa, and Everton had to revert to defence. Some strong play from Wolves needed a good save from Pickford. But Everton broke forward with Alcaraz setting up Beto for another one-on-one, Sa stretching low to save his placed shot.
Hwang came on and Branthwaite needed to be sharp to keep the ball away from him, the corner coming to nothing. Everton tried to build again but Alcaraz was disposessed. But Everton forced a corner, Garner’s far post delivery cleared. Iroegbunam saw yellow for an over-stretched tackle that caught Doherty.
Everton worked a better attack, but Alcaraz could not get enough power in his shot to take it beyond Sar. Alcaraz was then stupidly booked (again?) for showing dissent when called offside. Everton were guilty of failing to clear their lines but got away with it in the end as the nervy final minutes played out.
It became quite scrapy, Sarabia getting close enough to fire a left-footed curler beyond the far post. At the other end, Alcaraz forced a corner, Harrison lobbing it too far to the back post.
And it finished all square — not a fantastic Saturday night of gripping Premier League entertainment by any stretch of the imagination… but another draw, another point, and another game unbeaten for The Blues.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Sá, Doherty, Agbadou, Tito Gomes; Semedo (90+1′ Bueno), André [Y:53′] (90+2′ Doyle), Joao Gomes, Aït-Nouri; Munetsi (46′ Sarabia), Bellegarde (83′ Guedes), Strand Larsen [Y:62′] (74′ Hwang).
Subs not Used: Johnstone, Rodrigo Gomes, Djiga, Lima.
Everton: Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner (90+2′ Young), Doucouré (63′ Alcaraz [Y:85′]); Lindstrøm (63′ Iroegbunam [Y:79′]), Harrison, Beto.
Subs not Used: Begovic, Virgínia, Patterson, Keane, Chermiti, Coleman.