THE GOLDEN BOY!
Richarlison glitters to leave Nuno wobbling
HOW appropriate that the man Neymar dubbed ‘Golden boy’ should choose opponents wearing Old Gold to kick- start his season.
It was last September when the world’s most expensive footballer took a felt pen and wrote those words on Richarlison’s shirt after the Everton forward had made a dazzling first appearance for Brazil. Neymar recognised his talent and wanted to see him flourish. So do Everton.
His first year on Merseyside was good, full of life and goals, but this campaign had been inauspicious. Until now.
Richarlison scored two on his Everton debut against Wolves last year, so they cannot say they hadn’t been warned. On a pulsating afternoon, he thrillingly repeated the feat.
‘ We are talking about a fantastic football player and a fantastic boy,’ Marco Silva, Everton’s head coach, purred. ‘ He is the spirit inside our dressing room. He only had 13 days to train with us before the first game of the season. Miracles we cannot do. This will help his confidence. He will keep improving, for sure.’
Richarlison’s double, coupled with a fine header from Alex Iwobi, gave Everton a richlydeserved three points. After a dreadful performance at Aston Villa, they needed such a result to settle things down. It also did no harm to inflict damage on one of their main rivals.
Wolves, just like Everton, are aiming to break into the top six but, so far, their proficiency in Europe has not been matched domestically and it is jarring to see them head into the internationals without a win from their first four games.
Many will look at this result and pin Wolves’ defeat on the fact they have been involved in the Europa League, but the reality for Nuno Espirito Santo is that his side were found wanting in the crucial moments and struggled to cope with Everton’s vibrancy.
Wolves, certainly, contributed to this entertaining spectacle and will feel they should have left with a share of the spoils, but one tell- tale moment, straight after Richarlison had plundered the third goal with a towering back-post header, told you everything you need to know about their demise.
Nuno stood with his arms outstretched, looking at his defenders, clearly asking them ‘What happened?’ — fatigue had nothing to do with this setback. When he watches the footage, the Portuguese will see clearly the pockmarking of poor defending.
‘We should not be happy with the mistakes we made,’ said Nuno, not a man who engages in lengthy postmortems.
‘We played against a very good team. When you score two times, we should do better defensively to sustain what we produce.’
Take the first goal which set this game alight. Wolves fell behind due to a ridiculous mix-up in which Conor Coady, their captain, fired a back-pass at Rui Patricio that the goalkeeper smashed straight at Moise Kean. The Italian, starting for the first time, teed up Richarlison, who did the rest.
Wolves recovered quickly and were level in the ninth minute thanks to a turbo-charged run from Adama Traore that beat Lucas Digne all ends up.
Seamus Coleman, Everton’s captain, trod on Traore’s cross and steered it into the path of Romain Saiss, whose finish was emphatic.
The eruption in the corner of the Bullens Road, where the visiting fans are housed, was an unfamiliar sight. This was the first time Everton had conceded a goal at Goodison Park since Gabriel Jesus scored for Manchester City in February, a gap of 207 days.
It was a chaotic start but the frenzy continued. Everton, who were so much more vibrant for Silva’s changes to the starting line-up, raced back downfield with Richarlison helping the ball on to Gylfi Sigurdsson, whose fierce cross was met powerfully at the back post by the gleeful Iwobi. He peeled away in delight and with good