Wolves shrugged off their poor Premier League form with a 2-0 win over Everton at Molineux in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Marshall Munetsi opened the scoring in the first half by slotting in the rebound after Mark Travers had parried Jhon Arias’ wicked left-footed volley. Tolu Arokodare sealed the win late in the game with a deft chip over the goalkeeper to score his first goal for the club.
Everton had tested Sam Johnstone early through Michael Keane’s header but only really looked threatening after introducing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Beto at the break – and particularly once Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye came on just before the hour.
But Wolves stood firm with Andre putting in a player of the match performance in midfield. It is five defeats from five for Vitor Pereira’s side in the Premier League but now two wins from two against top-flight opposition in the Carabao Cup. Welcome relief.
Marshall Munetsi puts Wolves ahead against Everton in the Carabao Cup!
Tolu Arokodare’s cheeky chip sends Wolves to the Fourth Round of the Carabao Cup!
Player of the match: Andre
Brazilian midfielder Andre might have been regarded as one of the first names on the Wolves team-sheet coming into the season but he has been surprisingly omitted twice already in the Premier League. Pereira will surely be reluctant to make that error again.
He was the outstanding player on the pitch at Molineux on Tuesday evening, providing defensive protection and distributing the ball smartly. He left the field to a standing ovation and chants of his name late on. The supporters expect him to be a starter now.
“He’s important,” agreed Pereira, when speaking after the game. “He is a very important player. Tactically, he is very consistent. He is intelligent. He knows how to play as a six. But it was not only Andre for me … The second half, we were there with the spirit.”
Wolves’ back-four switch works
“When we plan the squad, we plan to play with three defenders.” Those were the words of the Wolves head coach in his press conference just 11 days prior this game. Two defeats since then have persuaded the Portuguese boss to switch to a back four.
It remains to be seen whether Pereira will stick with the system in a Premier League game but it resulted in Wolves’ first clean sheet of the season and for a team that has looked short of confidence that could give these players something to cling to.
“When you are not getting results in the system,” said Pereira in the press conference, “I’m here to find solutions and to put my players comfortable. It’s not to please me, to please myself. It’s to find solutions to get results. And it was a good experience.”
Pereira: Happy to see smiles again
Wolves boss Vitor Pereira:
“The team showed, I think, the first half, maybe the best first half in this season. With personality, with quality, controlling the game, controlling the pace, creating problems.
“And in the second half, the spirit of the team. Trying to defend well, to be compact, to create situations of counter-attack.
“I’m happy for my players because I miss their smiles. I miss going into the dressing room and seeing their smile, and the smiles of the supporters.”
Moyes: Subs made a huge difference
Everton boss David Moyes:
David Moyes made seven changes to the Everton team, describing it afterwards as “an opportunity to show what they can do” – but that opportunity was not seized. Moyes acknowledged as much by noting the improvement when his stars came on.
“Well they’ve got a level to get up to now, because we’ve seen the levels you saw in the second half, the performance levels, how much better it was.
“The players who we introduced made a huge difference to the team. So we want everybody to play at that level. We didn’t play at that level in the first half.”
