Dismal display sees Blues knocked out by woeful Wolves
A month ago, Everton travelled to Wolverhampton and produced a sparkling performance to win the match 3-2 and chalk up a third win on the trot. Since then there have been some difficult matches and an international break which has slowed the train but the strong performance at Anfield has shown that the team continues to grow and improve.
A second trip to Wolves for a Carabao Cup third round tie was important as James Tarkowski in the buildup to the match reiterated the importance of the Cup competitions:
“There’s an emphasis on us as a club and as a team to go and win a trophy. Every season there is always an emphasis to do well in the cups but there is definitely a feeling amongst the players and staff to give it everything and win something.”
Team News
There was a lot of talk about the David Moyes putting out a strong lineup for the match and he has delivered. What is different is the fact that he made seven changes from Saturday. Mark Travers replaced Jordan Pickford in goal and Seamus Coleman took the place of Vitalii Mykolenko. Ahead of the defence, only James Garner survived. Tim Iroegbunam was brought in to partner him in the middle with a front line of Dibling, Carlos Alcaraz and Dwight McNeil aiming to supply Barry, who took the spot of Beto.
Jorgen Strand Larsen returned to the starting lineup for Wolves. The striker came off the bench in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Leeds having missed the previous two games. Only Ladislav Krejci and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde keep their place from the loss – Wolves’ fifth straight Premier League defeat.
Match Report
The travelling Evertonians were in full voice and the competition was lacking as the stands were somewhat empty in the Wolves sections. Craig Pawson was the man in the middle as the match started with Everton immediately putting a high press on Wolves.
Wolves started to get on the ball but the Everton back line was holding firm. A long throw from O’Brien was met by Barry but his header was weak. It was then Everton’s turn to control the ball and when Alcaraz slid a ball into Tyler Dibling’s path but the youngster was unable to keep the ball down.
O’Brien was again the provider as he delivered another cross which was met by Barry but he could not keep his header down. Wolves countered and their first corner led to a scramble but there was no real danger. Garner then slid a ball into Alcaraz but his shot was blocked. A third long throw from O’Brien landed on the head of Keane who forced a good save from the Wolves keeper.
Wolves then had their first chance of the match and when Travers made a good save, Menetsi was there to drive in the first goal of the match. Against the run of play to say the least.
Tyler Dibling was then showing what he can do when he danced around three Wolves players. When Barry was taken down, his frustration boiled over and he was given a yellow card for his objections. The home fans were starting to enjoy themselves.
Hee Chan Huang was forcing things and his shot needed a block from Tarkowski to prevent a goal. Wolves then put the ball into Larsen who tried to lob the ball to Munetsi but Travers made a lovely interception. Garner made a lovely interception and sent Alcaraz on his way and when Barry raced into the gap, Wolves had to surrender a corner. The poor delivery from Garner turned into a Wolves counter attack and thankfully they could not make anything of it as Craig Pawson blew his whistle to end the half.
Moyes shuffled the pack bringing on Beto and Dewsbury-Hall for Barry and Alcaraz. Wolves made no changes and when Johnstone passed the ball to KDH, the midfielder couldn’t decide what to do and a good chance went begging.
A nice turn from Beto forced a free kick just outside the box which KDH lined up with Garner but the delivery was poor. Everton kept up the pressure but there were far too many poor passes. A big shout from the Wolves fans for a hand ball by Coleman was ignored by the referees and with no VAR to spoil the party the match continued.
The game was very disjointed and neither team could get anything going and when Hwang had the ball on the edge of the box, his shot was awful. Moyes brought on Grealish and Ndiaye for McNeil and Dibling. Grealish was on the ball right away and pleaded his case when he was brought down in the box but Pawson was not interested.
Everton were running the play with Ndiaye and Grealish running at Wolves. A nice ball into the box saw Tarkowski see his header prevented by Johnstone’s clearing punch. Grealish had been fouled several times in quick succession and it was Coleman who was asking the questions of the referee on why there were no yellow cards for the old gold.
A nice ball from Grealish was met by O’Brien but he could not get the ball past Johnstone. Wolves then made two changes with Tolu Arokodare replacing Jørgen Strand Larsen and Rodrigo Gomes coming on for Hwang Hee-Chan.
Grealish was taken down on the edge of the box and James Garner’s free kick was struck well and rattled the top bar. James Garner then drove into the box and his low shot was parried away by Johnstone. Everton were buzzing but could not break down the orange wall. Seamus Coleman was replaced by Mykolenko.
When Jake O’Brien made some space for himself with a nice move, he laid the ball off to Iroegbunam who’s shot was close to embarrassing. Wolves brought on Gomes and Toti for Munetsi and Arias. Ndiaye was then weaving his way forward but his shot was well over the bar. Seconds later, a poor touch by Ndiaye snuffed out some nice buildup.
Emmanuel Agbadou replaced André because of an injury and seconds later it was his pass that set up Tolu who dinked the ball over Travers to leave Moyes ruing his choices.
Five minutes of added time was announced as Grealish decided to get in a scuffle with Gomes. The Portuguese player was then given a yellow for a rash challenge on KDH. Frustration set in for the Blues and when Pawson blew his whistle there were very few Evertonians in the stadium to witness the debacle.
Everton’s Man of the Match
James Garner: The only player outside of defenders who survived the cull from the Liverpool match. He was the only player who showed any quality before changes were made by Moyes. He deserved a goal when his free kick rattled the bar. He had the most passes in the match and his accuracy was 94%. He was the only quality in the first half before the reinforcements arrived.
Instant Reaction
Tonight was a seminal moment for the club. In year’s past, it was either the same team again as there was no depth or there was a team that was so weak that we had no chance from the start. Tonight, Moyes made seven changes and was able to give some of our new signings the chance to show what they could do for the team. It was damned if you do and damned if you don’t. By half time it was damned if you do and the response from Evertonians was critical. The final outcome was harder to take because we should be and are better.
It is very difficult to sit on a bench and be required to get up to speed after several weeks of watching. Dwight McNeil and Charley Alcaraz struggled to impact the match. That could be also said for Iliman Ndiaye who came on in the second half and was wasteful and could not produce his normal level of quality.
To say that Evertonians were disappointed by the outcome would be an understatement. For all the talk this week of how important a cup run would be for the team, this display did not come to fruition. Wolves have zero wins this year in the Premier League and were there for the picking. Moyes decided to shuffle his pack and it did not paid off. The relegation talk won’t be far behind if I know anything about how quick Evertonians jump off the ship.
David Moyes picks the team. Today, he got it wrong. Don’t have Tarkowski come out and tell us how important the cups are and then pick a team that struggled from start to finish to score a goal.
Category: General Sports
