Everton 3 Wolves 2: Richarlison nets 80th-minute winner as Toffees edge visitors in Goodison thriller
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RICHARLISON repeated the double he bagged against Wolves on his Everton debut to settle a ding-dong affair that could easily have produced twice as many goals.
Richarlison’s brace last year, hot on the heels of his £40million move from Crystal Palace, was only good enough to earn Everton a 2-2 draw – although the Toffees had to play with ten men for an hour following Phil Jagielka’s first half sending off.
This time the Brazilian star opened the scoring after just five minutes, and then headed home the winner ten minutes from time after Wolves had twice come from behind to level the scores.
And it was the visitors who finished with ten men this time, with Willy Boly shown a second yellow deep into stoppage time for barging into Richarlison.
That completed an unhappy afternoon for Boly. He had been caught flat-footed when Richarlsion climbed high over him to power home Lucas Digne’s cross for the winner.
After hitting four in the midweek Carabao Cup win at Lincoln – with Richarlison on target there too – Everton seem to have found their scoring boots.
It was hard to believe these two teams had managed just three goals between them in the Premier League before this, as they both came out hell-bent on attack.
That goal tally was doubled inside the first 12 minutes, and there were a couple of near-misses in that frantic opening spell as well.
Gylfi Sigurdsson provided a taste of things to come after four minutes. He got plenty of power on a twisting header from an Alex Iwobi cross, but sent it flashing just over the bar.
But the home team were in front 60 seconds later, after an awful mix-up between Conor Coady and Rui Patricio.
Coady did not know whether to wait for his keeper to come for the ball or to help it along, and when he finally prodded the ball towards his keeper Patricio could only stick a leg out and knock it away from goal.
It bounced off Moise Kean and ran to Richarlison. He got on top of his shot but sent it bouncing past the despairing Coady into the far corner.
Wolves were level after nine minutes, as Adama Traore brushed off a feeble challenge from Digne – something that was to become a recurring theme – and zipped in a menacing low cross.
Coleman failed to deal with it at the back post, and Romain Saiss stabbed it home from close range for the equaliser.
That was the first goal Everton had conceded at Goodison Park in seven matches, stretching back to March. But they were quickly back in front.
Sigurddson’s delivery from the right was causing plenty of problems, and he produced a perfect cross to pick out Iwobi at the far post.
The former Arsenal man had to stretch to reach the ball but did his bit well for a are headed goal – well, not that rare, as he also nodded one in at Lincoln.
It was almost 2-2 as Patrick Cutrone scented a goal on his first Premier League start, but Pickford threw himself across goal to pull of a terrific stop.
The breathless end to end stuff continued with Everton’s slick passing game and the dangerous Sigurdsson threatening more goals.
The classy Iceland midfielder almost played Kean in twice only for Patricio to spread himself and keep his team in it.
But it was not all one-way traffic, and Willy Boly was cursing himself for directing a header straight at Pickford after leaping highest to meet a Ruben Neves corner.
Everton finished the half ion top, and quickly picked up where they left off, and four Wolves men went into referee Anthony Taylor’s book in quick succession – including Boly - as they tried to stem the tide.
The fourth of them was Ryan Bennett, for holding back Richarlison, but the Wolves defender was seen to good effect with a great challenge on Kean after the young striker had turned away from Coady.
Wolves needed to show the same urgency at the other end of the pitch, and Nuno Espirito Santo sent on both Joao Moutinho and Diogo Jota in search of greater creativity, after resting them following the Europa League win over Torino.
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But their 75th minute equaliser came from a more direct approach.
Boly flicked on a Bennett long throw and Jimenez scored with a brave, stooping header, copping a boot in the face from Digne in the process as the Everton defender tried to hook the ball clear.
But Boly was at fault as Richarlison leaped over him to head home the winner ten minutes from time, and the Brazilian was unlucky not to complete a hat-trick, with Patricio throwing himself across goal to claw away a curling shot.
