Everton 0-1 Wolves: Things go from bad to worse for Toffees as late Sasa Kalajdzic strike earns Gary O’Neil his first win to leave Sean Dyche’s side bottom of the Premier League
- Wolves earned their first win of the season thanks to Sasa Kalajdzic’s late strike
- Everton have now lost all three of their opening games without scoring a goal
- Sean Dyche’s side missed a number of chances to open the scoring
Wolves substitute Sasa Kalajdzic hit dominant Everton with a later sucker-punch only two minutes after his arrival at Goodison Park.
The giant 6ft7ins Austrian guided Pedro Neto’s cross home with a header after 87 minutes to earn the visitors their first win of the season and leave Everton bottom of the table without a goal or a point.
It was rough justice on Sean Dyche’s men who had squandered a number of chances in a game that saw both goalkeepers pull off excellent saves.
The mood among Evertonians was more sullen and resigned rather than toxic in the closing stages with many fans leaving even as their team chased an equaliser in five minutes of injury time. Those who remained greeted the final whistle with boos.
Dyche made some big decisions in response to the 4-0 drubbing at Aston Villa last weekend.
Sasa Kalajdzic earned Wolves all three points with his first goal for the club
The giant Austrian striker had only been on the pitch for two minutes when he scored the winner
The victory for Wolves is Gary O’Neil’s first since taking charge of the club
Michael Keane made way for England under-21 international Jarrad Branthwaite after his horror show while 20-year-old Lewis Dobbin was called up for his first Premier League start.
For Wolves, Manchester City target Matheus Nunes was missing through suspension.
Arnaut Danjuma took up the Dominic Calvert-Lewin role down the middle and was a whisker away from an early breakthrough when he just missed Nathan Patterson’s cross.
Danjuma then saw his strike tipped by Sa onto the post. The assistant’s flag went for offside but a review would have been interesting had he scored.
Everton remembered Michael Jones, the fan who recently died whilst working at the club’s new Bramley-Dock Moor stadium.
A huge banner that read “Forever in our Hearts” was unfurled before kick off and applause rang round Goodison after 26 minutes to mark his age.
Everton were nearly inspired. The fans were still clapping when Garner’s shot was parried by Sa and James Tarkowski lashed the rebound.
Dyche’s side ended the half strongly with Branthwaite and Garner going close and Wolves made a change at the interval with Rayan Ait-Nouri replacing Hwang, who had fallen painfully into a cameraman after colliding with Patterson.
The second half should have seen plenty of goals from the moment Sa stopped Garner’s bobbly shot and Branthwaite headed the rebound into the goalkeeper’s grateful arms.
Defeat leaves Everton bottom of the Premier League after three losses in a row
Abdoulaye Doucoure was one of a number of players brilliantly denied by Wolves goakeeper Jose Sa
Everton are yet to score a goal this season
Fabio Silva was ruled marginally offside when he swept in Hugo Bueno’s cross and then missed badly after an awful mix-up between Tarkowski and Pickford left him clear, the two Evertonians both stopping for each other to deal with the danger.
Pickford then pulled off an exceptional save when Branthwaite deflected a Neto free-kick towards his own goal. Not to be outdone, Sa then showed great reactions to tip over from Doucoure after his header bounced down and was rising back up towards the roof of the net.
Everton threw on £15million striker Youssef Chermiti for his debut to chase a winner but it was Gary O’Neil’s change that had the greater impact.
Kalajdzic, who was injured for nearly the whole of last season following his move from Stuttgart, replaced Matheus Cunha and immediately found space between two Everton centre-halves to head in his first Wolves goal to the delight of the travelling fans.
Everton vs Wolves
Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford 7: Patterson 6, Branthwaite 6.5, Tarkowski 5.5, Young 5.5; Onana 6.5, Gueye 6 (Keane 90); Doucoure 6.5; Garner 6.5, Dobbin 5 (Chermiti 66 5.5); Danjuma 6 (Cannon 90)Booked: Garner, Branthwaite, Chermiti
Subs unused: Virginia (Gk), Lonergan (Gk), Mykolenko, Godfrey, Maupay, Onyango
Wolves (4-2-3-1): Sa 8: Semedo 6, Dawson 6, Kilman 6, Bueno 7 (Toti 85); Lemina 6, Gomes 6; Neto 6.5, Cunha 5 (Kalajdzic 85) , Hwang 5.5 (Ait-Nouri 45 6); Silva 5 (Sarabia 74)
Subs unused: Bentley (Gk), Doherty, Traore, Jonny, HodgeGoal: Kalajdzic 87Booked: Gomes, Semedo, Lemina, Dawson
Referee: Craig Pawson 7
Attendance: 38,851
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