Joy for Jimenez as Wolves put bite on Toffees
It really could not have been any other way. After late drama in their previous two games, we should have known Wolves had to do things the hard way.
It should not have been so for head coach Bruno Lage and his players. For much of this game, they dominated and played some fine football. the energy of their new hero Hwang Hee-chan was too much for Everton to handle.
Yet, somehow, right until the final whistle, the home crowd was tense and nervous, fretting that another last-gasp goal would stop them in their tracks, as had been the case at Elland Road last weekend. Had they thrown away victory here, it would have been risible.
Everton should never have been given the chance to make things nervous. the first half was so onesided, it bordered on embarrassing. the premise of Monday Night Football is excitement and closefought contests but this was nothing of the sort. Wolves were out of the gates quicker than a sprinter at the nearby racetrack and were not for catching.
It’s now four wins in their last five games, moving them up to seventh in the table.
‘It was very good, three points and especially what we did in the first half — the way we played and the goals we scored,’ said Lage.
‘What we did in the first half, we didn’t deserve to suffer a little bit in the second half. We did very well in the first 45 minutes.’
It took nine minutes for the first meaningful shot to arrive — a fizzing volley from Ruben Neves that forced Jordan Pickford to move decisively — but once Lage’s side found their range, it filled them with confidence and enabled them to go about dismantling Everton.
Pickford needed to be at his best to tip away a curling leftfooted shot from Francisco trincao in the 14th minute. He was beaten 60 seconds later by Hwang but the South Korea forward had fractionally mistimed his run and the goal was deemed offside.
You anticipated there would be some response from Everton but none was forthcoming. this was not just impoverished, it was insulting to the thousands who had travelled from Merseyside to watch. At least at 0-0 there was a glimmer that things could change but the way Wolves were moving, it was unrealistic to think it would stay that way. So it proved.
Raul Jimenez set off on a run into the danger zone that Seamus Coleman did well to halt but, from Rayan Ait-Nouri’s resulting corner, Max Kilman hustled in between Michael Keane and Ben Godfrey to head into the far corner.
the goal which enabled Wolves to stretch their advantage was a calamity. there was no danger when Keane flipped a ball out on the left to Godfrey but, inexplicably, he passed back to his goal and found Jimenez.
there was still some work to be done as Jimenez scuttled away but his composure was impeccable and Wolves’ No 9 conjured a lovely dinked finish that Pickford could do nothing about.
Everton pulled one back through Alex Iwobi in the 66th minute — and almost pilfered an equaliser when Anthony Gordon had a header saved by Jose Sa but it was not to be.
It’s now three defeats on the bounce for Rafa Benitez’s side.
‘It is a pity because we didn’t play in the first half,’ said Benitez.
‘We had a lot of character and chances in the second half. It was maybe a little too late. It is a shame we didn’t do it in the first half.’