Everton pile pressure on Wolves manager
Everton 4 - 0 Wolves
Everton ended a five-game winless streak in the Premier League with a resounding victory over a dismal Wolves side at Goodison Park, ramping up the pressure on under-fire manager Gary O’Neil.
Author - Craig H from GMCR Football
Both managers were under the spotlight going into Wednesday’s clash after their teams had each shipped four goals at the weekend.
While Wolves fans turned on O’Neil, especially after Craig Dawson's two own goals, Everton boss Sean Dyche enjoyed watching his side deliver a much-needed dominant display, lifting them five points clear of the relegation zone.
After four games without a goal, Everton made the perfect start. Ashley Young’s sublime 25-yard free-kick bent around the wall and nestled beautifully into the bottom-right corner, ending their scoring drought in style.
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Six minutes later, it looked like Everton had doubled their lead when James Tarkowski powered in a header from Dwight McNeil’s cross. However, referee Michael Salisbury disallowed the goal after a VAR review showed Orel Mangala was offside and obstructing a player.
Wolves had chances to respond early on, but Matheus Cunha’s low drive and Jorgen Strand Larsen’s close-range effort were both denied by Jordan Pickford.
Those missed opportunities proved costly. Wolves’ shaky defence failed to clear their lines, allowing Mangala to pounce and drill a superb first-time strike into the net from 20 yards.
The second half went from bad to worse for Wolves. Dawson, in an afternoon to forget, put through his own net twice from McNeil's deliveries, sealing an emphatic Everton win. Wolves now find themselves in 19th place, three points adrift of safety.
For Everton, they will be hoping that this win marks the start of a revival. No Evertonian wants a relegation battle in their final season at Goodison Park.
Getting sacked in the morning?
We caught up with a number of Wolves fans after the match who are all unhappy after a second consecutive game where they conceded four goals.
Michael was in the away end at Goodison Park. He said: "That was another poor performance. Defensively, we are inept, and anyone watching us knows that we lacked quality players in this area at the start of the season. Now, we are paying for that lack of investment. Gary O'Neil must go, as there are obvious tactical weaknesses. Unless new players come in January, relegation is sadly inevitable."
Derek was also at the match. He added: "It has been obvious for some time that our manager is not able to put a team together. It's now time for someone new to try to get us out of this mess."
This seems to be the consensus from Wolves fans. Do you agree? More reaction coming up here: eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com/p/premier-le...
— European Super Football (@superfootball.bsky.social) 5 December 2024 at 12:42
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Turning point for Everton?
Everton Season Ticket Holder Sarah W was happy with this win but is also being realistic with aspirations for the rest of the campaign. She said: "I am still annoyed with what happened at Old Trafford. Don't get me wrong, this was a good win but we should not get carried with the win as we were playing an inferior Wolves side. Let's hope it does end up being a turning point though and we can gather a few more points to avoid that dreaded relegation battle."
