Wolves 2-0 Everton: FLW report as Wanderers eliminate lacklustre Toffees from EFL Cup | OneFootball

FLW reports from Molineux for this EFL Cup tie

Wolverhampton Wanderers were able to put a dire start to the Premier League season behind them in the EFL Cup third round as they defeated Everton 2-0 at Molineux.

After seeing off West Ham United in round two, Vitor Pereira's side ran out victors with a controlled performance against the Toffees, avenging a 3-2 league defeat against the same opponents last month with two neat finishes from Marshall Munetsi and a first goal for the club from substitute striker, Tolu Arokodare.

It had been an inconsistent start to the season for Everton, and David Moyes' side were unable to give the travelling supporters reason to be cheerful after their Merseyside derby defeat over the weekend, with the Toffees now pinning their hopes on the FA Cup when it comes to ending a lengthy trophy drought.

Wolves 2-0 Everton

With both sides making wholesale changes in comparison to their previous league XI's, a slow opening period followed. The first half-chance of the tie saw Everton's Thierno Barry direct a Jake O'Brien long throw well wide of Sam Johnstone's left-hand post after nine minutes.

After dispossessing Andre in the middle of the park, Carlos Alcaraz sent Tyler Dibling through on 18 minutes, with the teenager looking to mark his first start for the club with a goal, but he could only send his effort off-target after bursting into the box.

The first meaningful chance for Wolves came via a corner five minutes later. A low Jhon Arias delivery was allowed to bounce into Ladislav Krejci's path, with the centre-back unable to find the net for the second successive outing as he was crowded out.

Alcaraz was then given time and space to force Johnstone into a smart save, before the Wanderers keeper was at full stretch again as another O'Brien long-throw was powered towards goal by the experienced James Tarkowski.

However, it was the hosts who would take the lead on 29 minutes. A searching ball from Krejci was met by Arias, who forced Travers into a fine initial stop before Munetsi was on hand to fire the rebound home from inside the 18-yard box.

Buoyed by the strike, Wolves quickly looked to double their advantage, with Jorgen Strand Larsen finding Hwang Hee-Chan in space on the left, with the South Korean's effort deflecting off O'Brien for a corner which came to no avail.

Travers was called into action again to smartly deny Strand Larsen a third goal in the competition after the Norwegian was played through by Hwang on 42 minutes. The final action of the half saw Matt Doherty on hand to block another effort from Barry with less than 45 seconds left.

Moyes reacted to a sub-par showing in the opening period with a double substitution, with Beto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall replacing Barry and Alcaraz. The Toffees forged the first opportunity of the second half, with a corner falling to James Garner at the edge of the box, with the midfielder blazing a drive well over the bar.

Andre tried his luck with a speculative effort five minutes into the half after being urged to shoot by the Southbank. However, the Brazilian's effort showed no sign of troubling Travers.

The home side then saw strong claims for a penalty immediately waved away by Craig Pawson as a Munetsi cross from the right was blocked by Michael Keane. Shortly afterwards, an opportunity to put daylight between themselves and Everton was wasted by Hwang, failing to direct a venomous strike on target after taking advantage of miscommunication among the visitors' rearguard.

Jack Grealish was introduced and immediately at the centre of proceedings, with the Manchester City loanee bemused a spot-kick wasn't awarded after he fell under pressure after darting into the box. Fellow substitute Iliman Ndiaye also looked to provide more of an attacking spark for the Toffees, with the Senegalese's first chance bravely blocked by Andre just after the hour mark.

Midway through the second period, a teasing Grealish cross was prodded towards goal by an advanced O'Brien, with Johnstone eventually coming to Wolves' rescue after initially failing to deal with the pressure convincingly.

With 19 minutes to go, the home sections of Molineux breathed a collective sigh of relief as a curling free-kick from Garner had the experienced keeper beaten all ends up as it rattled the inside of the crossbar.

As the game entered the final stages, Ndiaye smartly weaved his way past the newly-introduced Toti, before firing yet another wayward effort, summing up what was a frustrating night for Moyes' men.

The Blues were made to rue the catalogue of spurned chances two minutes from time, as Tolu netted his first goal for Wolves as he smartly dinked the onrushing Travers after a clever through ball from Joao Gomes two minutes from time.

FT: Wolves 2-0 Everton

Player Ratings

Wolves

Sam Johnstone - 7.5

Matt Doherty - 7

Santiago Bueno - 7

Ladislav Krejci - 7.5

Hugo Bueno - 7

Andre - 7.5 (Agbadou 87" - 6)

Marshall Munetsi - 8 (J.Gomes 81" - 7)

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde - 6.5

Jhon Arias - 7 (Toti 81" - 6)

Hwang Hee-Chan - 6.5 (R.Gomes 68" - 6)

Jorgen Strand Larsen - 6.5 (Arokodare 68" - 7)

Unused Subs: Dan Bentley, Ki-Jana Hoever, David Moller Wolfe, Fer Lopez

Everton

Mark Travers - 5.5

Jake O'Brien - 6.5

Michael Keane - 6

James Tarkowski - 6

Seamus Coleman - 6.5 (Mykolenko 78" - 6)

James Garner - 7

Tim Iroegbunam - 6.5

Tyler Dibling - 6.5 (Ndiaye 58" - 6)

Carlos Alcaraz - 6.5 (Dewsbury-Hall 46" - 6.5)

Dwight McNeil - 6 (Grealish 58" - 6.5)

Thierno Barry - 6 (Beto 46" - 6)

Unused Subs: Tom King, Nathan Patterson, Idrissa Gueye, Adam Aznou

Wolves vs Everton Attendance

The attendance at Molineux for this all-Premier League, EFL Cup tie was 18,758.

This included 2,911 who made the trip from Merseyside.

Vitor Pereira reacts as Wolves progress to EFL Cup last 16

Speaking to the press afterwards, Pereira was extremely pleased with his side's all-round performance amid a difficult start to the campaign overall.

"I think the first half was the best first half we have played this season," he said. "We played with personality, with quality, controlling the game, the pace, creating problems.

"And in the second half, (you could see) the spirit of the team," Pereira stated. "Trying to defend well, be compact, to create counter-attack situations, and we scored a second goal.

"I'm happy for my players, because I miss their smiles. I missed going into the dressing room and seeing their smiles, and the smiles of the supporters.

The Portuguese then outlined the main tactical tweaks that were key to his side's controlled success

"When you aren't getting results in a system. I've worked in all the systems, I know the dynamics, we had one training session to change. But, I am here to find solutions and make my players comfortable in their roles," he added.

"This isn't to please myself, it is to find solutions to get results. This was a good experience.

"Now we keep going with our work and be in condition to play with four or with five (defenders)."

David Moyes' verdict as Everton lose to Wolves in EFL Cup

Addressing the media post-match, Moyes was rather frustrated with his side's first-half showing in particular as Wolves were given a leg-up in a period severely lacking quality.

"I'm disappointed," the Scotsman began. "We're coming to another Premier League team so I don't think you can say it's a missed opportunity. I don't know if Wolves would've said the same, but we're disappointed.

"We wanted to give some (players) the opportunity to show what they could do," he added. "The team have been playing at a really good level, and it was a chance to see if others could join it.

"It was a 0-0 game in the first half. We gave away a diabolical goal. Wolves were better than us for 10 minutes or so, but they weren't better (in the first half). They probably scored against the run of play in some ways.

"We gave away a terrible first goal which altered things and made us look at the game more difficult.