Wolverhampton Wanderers 3, Everton 0.
By Alan Feehely.
Wolves moved within four points of Leicester City and Champions League football on Sunday afternoon, sweeping away an impotent Everton side at Molineux without breaking a sweat. Coupled with a last 16 tie against Olympiacos in the Europa League on the horizon, Nuno Espírito Santo’s charges will go into the final games of this season with plenty to play for.
The same cannot be said for Everton. Mired in mid-table mediocrity, early hopes of a restart-aided revival have been firmly put to bed by a shocking run of form, the nadir of which came in this defeat in Wolverhampton. Uncertain in defence, weak in midfield and toothless in attack, the only positive gleaned from this showing for beleaguered Evertonians is that it will compel Carlo Ancelotti to act significantly in the transfer window if he is serious about turning the club into European contenders.
Wolves were in many ways the antithesis of their opponents. A small but capable squad filled with hungry up-and-comers, they put Everton’s bloated big signings such as Gylfi Sigurðsson and Alex Iwobi to shame. In Leander Dendoncker and Rúben Neves they had a powerful midfield pairing blessed with strength and creativity, flanked by two skilled fullbacks and a dangerous front three. They were cohesive and focused, while Everton at one point had three full-backs on the pitch (with only one playing as a full-back) and one centre-back.
Diogo Jota celebrates Wolves’ third
Wolves dominated the early exchanges without showing a killer touch. On the left, Daniel Podence was bright, testing Jordan Pickford early on with a driven shot before seeing his striker, Raúl Jiménez, doing the same with an overhead kick. On the stroke of halftime, Podence was pivotal in helping Wolves take the lead, drawing a foul from Lucas Digne to win a penalty kick.
Jiménez made no mistake in his conversion, placing his effort nonchalantly in the bottom left corner of the net, and Wolves emerged from the break to instantly double their lead through another set-piece. Jarrad Branthwaite, an 18-year-old centre-back making his debut for Everton, gave away a free-kick before losing his man as Pedro Neto played a whipped ball across goal, finding Dendoncker, whose header beat Pickford.
Everton, statistically far from one of the division’s most resilient sides, looked incapable of mounting a comeback. Their lack of attacking threat was epitomised by a seemingly innocuous passage of play involving Sigurðsson – the expensive Icelandic midfielder, in the midst of a rare promising attacking foray, played a clipped ball behind Digne instead of a driven pass ahead of him, nullifying any nascent momentum and consolidating a lethargic and unambitious performance.
Wolves, on the other hand, smelled blood, making it three in the 74th minute. Neves played a stunning ball over the top to find Diogo Jota, who controlled well and finished with aplomb. Adama Traoré came on and ran at Everton’s jaded defence to cause several problems, striking the crossbar with five minutes remaining. Wolves had their foot on Everton’s neck, and will view the result as an important momentum booster going into the final stretch. Everton won’t know where to begin.