Wolves 2-1 Everton: Heroes, villains & player ratings as Wanderers move to seventh

Wolverhampton Wanderers moved up to seventh in the Premier League with a hard fought 2-1 win over Everton at Molineux.

Max Kilman and Raul Jimenez scored for Wanderers before Alex Iwobi punished some sloppy defending to give Everton a lifeline.

The Toffees pushed hard towards the end of the game but Wolves stood strong and were able to hold on for a precious three points.

Bruno Lage’s side came out all guns blazing and looked more like the team we had seen in the early stages of the season.

Ruben Neves and Conor Coady both went close and Hwang Hee-Chan had a goal ruled out for offside.

But they kept pushing and got their reward when Max Kilman headed home a Rayan Ait-Nouri corner on 28 minutes.

It was two less than five minutes later. Jimenez rushed onto a weak back pass from Ben Godfrey and dinked the ball delightfully over Jordan Pickford.

Alex Iwobi halved the deficit after the break following some sloppy Wolves defending and made it an uncomfortable final 20 for Wanderers.

Trincao and Jimenez both went close to killing the game off once and for all but in the end it mattered not and Lage’s side held on for another impressive win.

Heroes

Raul Jimenez

Si Senor. Raul is well and truly back.

After a difficult start to the season, the Mexican is back doing what he does best again, finding the back of the net.

His lovely dink over Pickford was ultimately the match winner and it was the least his performance his deserved.

An all round top drawer performance from Wolves’ number nine.

Jose Sa

Sa could have been a villain had his lazy clearance rebounded a bit harder off of Richarlison but it didn’t so we can laugh about it now.

He turned hero though in the dying minutes. Everton substitute Anthony Gordon’s powerful header looked for certain to be heading in but the Portuguese stopper pulled off a superb save to make sure the points stayed at Molineux.

Rayan Ait-Nouri

I asked Bruno Lage in his pre-match presser if he thought Ait-Nouri could cement his place in the first team - well after tonight’s performance he may well have done.

He was a threat going forward constantly and was solid in defence.

If he can perform like that consistently, he’ll be a star.

Villains

Francisco Trincao

In fairness, I thought Trincao played well for the most part and nearly bagged himself a worldie had it not been for a great save from Pickford.

Having said that, the chance that he had to kill the game, I’ll never know how he’s missed.

Hwang did brilliantly down the left and found Trincao in acres, middle of the goal, eight yards out and the winger put it a good yard wide. Luckily, it didn’t come back to haunt Wolves.

Ben Godfrey

His nightmare back pass let Jimenez in to score what turned out to be the winner.

You simply cannot do that at this level and where Sa went unpunished at one end, unfortunately for Godfrey, his didn’t.

He’s a hero for Wolves fans tonight, though.

Player ratings

Wolves (3-4-2-1): Sa 7; Kilman 8, Coady 7, Saiss 7; Semedo 7, Neves 8, Moutinho 7, Ait-Nouri 8; Trincao 6 (79’ Podence N/A), Hwang 7 (90’ Silva N/A); Jimenez 9 (90’ Dendoncker N/A)

Everton (4-4-2): Pickford 6; Coleman 5, Keane 6, Holgate 6, Godfrey 5; Townsend 5, Gbamin 5 (45’ Delph 6), Allan 5, Iwobi 6* (78’ Gordon N/A); Richarlison 5, Gray 5 (90’ Rondon N/A)