Wolves emphatically earned a third consecutive victory as they showed solidarity with midfielder Mario Lemina whose father died on Friday.
Captain Max Kilman held up a Wolves shirt bearing Lemina’s No 5 after opening the scoring against Everton and further goals from Matheus Cunha and Craig Dawson underlined the home side’s domination.
Lemina, an important part of Wolves’ revival this season, missed Saturday’s game to mourn with his family in France.
In his absence, Wolves did him proud.
Fans chanted Lemina’s name after five minutes Kilman marked his first goal since 2021 by collecting a Wolves top with his team-mate’s name and holding it up for the supporters to applaud.
Wolves claimed their third successive win against Everton on Saturday, defeating the Toffees 3-0
The team paid tribute to Mario Lemina’s father who sadly passed away on Friday by holding up their team-mate’s shirt after Max Kilman scored the opener
Wolves captain Kilman tapped in after 25 minutes to score his first goal since 2021
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While Wolves were brilliant, particularly Hwang Hee-Chan in his final league game before departing for the Asian Cup, Everton’s policy of containment backfired.
Sean Dyche’s side have now lost three in a row and are only a point above the relegation zone because of their 10-point deduction for financial breaches.
With Lemina unavailable, Wolves boss Gary O’Neil called up Manchester City loanee Tommy Doyle for only his third Premier League start.
Everton showed respect to their opponents by going with a back-five.
South Korean Hwang was an immediate threat, twice running in behind the Everton defence in the opening stages and coming close to opening the scoring.
Cunha then bent an effort just wide as Wolves probed to break down a bank of four in front of a bank of five.
It was a tough afternoon for Everton who suffered their fourth defeat in all competitions
Gary O’Neil’s side have now claimed victories against Everton, Brentford and Chelsea
Matheus Cunha scored the second after half-time, firing in a pass from Hwang Hee-Chan
There were signs of creaking when Nathan Patterson became the first player booked for barging into Joao Gomes, and Wolves deservedly went ahead after 25 minutes.
A recycled corner was played back wide to Pablo Sarabia whose cross had bend and dip to cause mayhem in the box.
Jarrad Branthwaite’s outstretched boot forced Pickford to make an outstanding reflex save with James Tarkowski stopping the ball from spinning over the line.
Unfortunately for the Everton captain, his touch rebounded gently to Kilman who stabbed home from four yards.
It was the defender’s first goal for two years – also against Everton – and he sprinted straight to the dug-out to collect Lemina’s shirt.
Wolves maintained the momentum until the end of the first half. Tarkowski desperately wrestled Hwang to the floor and Pickford did well to hold onto the Korean’s cross.
Everton’s only bright moment came when Dominic Calvert-Lewin broke forward. But he couldn’t dribble around Jose Sa and might have been offside anyway.
A scuffle then broke out seconds before half-time when Dwight McNeil and Tommy Doyle were booked for shoving each other moments after a jumping Calvert-Lewin had caught Dawson in the face.
Any hope of an Everton revival were snuffed out after 53 minutes.
Sarabia and Hwang sliced the Everton defence apart and from the right, Hwang rolled in a centre that Cunha couldn’t miss – the forward also holding up Lemina’s shirt.
It was party time at Molineux. Dawson stretched out a leg to convert Cunha’s cross with Everton’s defenders showing their displeasure.
Wolves could have added even more. Pickford mad e a brilliant save to deny Hwang who was also denied by the offside flag.
Craig Dawson sealed the victory, tapping in a cross from Cunha to put Wolves 3-0 up
Jordan Picford was pictured looking dejected after conceding the third goal
It was Dawson’s first goal in the Premier League this season, with the defender having not scored in the league since April
The result means Everton will stay 17th in the table, just one point clear of the relegation zone
Wolves, meanwhile, move to 11th in the league and are now just eight points shy of fifth place
McNeil struck the woodwork at the other end for Everton but their failure to land a shot on target told its own story.
Everton captain Seamus Coleman came on in the second-half to equal Tim Howard’s record of Premier League appearances for the club, but this will be one of the least favourite of his 354 games.
Wolves also made a popular change with Pedro Neto sent on for the closing stages for his first action since October because of a hamstring injury. He produced a thrilling cameo, showing his lighting pace to accelerate past Tarkowski before firing over. He did put the ball in the net in injury-time but it was ruled out for a clear offside against his assister, Hwang.
Everton’s sad was completed when goalkeeper coach Billy Mercer was also shown yellow on the bench as Dyche remonstrated with the fourth official.
More to follow…
