Everton 0 Wolves 1: Misery for rock-bottom Toffees as Kalajdzic snatches late win after Sa’s save-of-season contender
pWOLVES substitute Sasa Kalajdzic scored a late winner two minutes after coming off the bench as Everton manager Sean Dyche#8217;s decision to turn to some new faces produced a depressingly familiar outcome./p
pThe Toffees dominated this a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/premierleague/Premier League/a match #8211; having 15 shots #8211; but remain goalless and pointless in the 270 minutes they have played so far this season, as the visitors scored with their only effort on target in the 87th minute./p
figure id=attachment_23668022 class=wp-caption alignnone style=width: 970pximg decoding=async loading=lazy src=https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-wolverhampton-wanderers-sasa-kalajdzic-840358195.jpg?strip=allamp;w=960 alt= class=alignnone size-thesun-article-image wp-image-23668022 width=960 height=680 /figcaption class=wp-caption-text/figcaptionfigcreditReuters/figcredit/figureSasa Kalajdzic netted a winner against Everton[/caption]
figure id=attachment_23668032 class=wp-caption alignnone style=width: 970pximg decoding=async loading=lazy src=https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sean-dyche-manager-everton-reacts-840373606.jpg?strip=allamp;w=960 alt= class=alignnone size-thesun-article-image wp-image-23668032 width=960 height=639 /figcaption class=wp-caption-text/figcaptionfigcreditGetty/figcredit/figureThe defeat leaves Sean Dyche#8217;s side rock bottom of the Premier League[/caption]
pFans streaming out of Goodison had seen it all before as recently as a fortnight ago when a similar performance against a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/team/1225801/fulham/Fulham/a also saw them lose 1-0 as they endured their worst start to a season since 1990-91./p
pBut the supporters in old gold did not care as they headed back down the M6 celebrating their first win of the campaign #8211; secured by a player making only his third appearance after rupturing his ACL in his first match last season #8211; and their third in succession at Goodison Park for the first time./p
pIt was bizarre to see the game touted as a must-win fixture for both sides with almost a week still left in August but such is the anticipated struggles of the two clubs, who were only lifted out of the last two places in the table by Luton#8217;s defeat at a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/team/1196660/chelsea/Chelsea/a on Friday, it did take on the appearance of a #8220;relegation six-pointer#8221;./p
pWolves boss a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/23410960/wolves-confirm-gary-oneil-manager/Gary O#8217;Neil/a will have taken some satisfaction from the result, having seen his final match as Bournemouth manager on the final day of last season end in a 1-0 defeat which kept a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/team/1196662/everton/Everton/a up late on for the second campaign running./p
pThe visitors effected a classic smash-and-grab as they were second-best for the majority of the game but benefited from their opponents#8217; toothlessness./p
pIt was tough on Everton, who were energised by a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/sean-dyche/Dyche#8217;s/a decision to put his faith in youth to some degree./p
pThe two loudest cheers at the pre-match team announcement were for Lewis Dobbin and Jarrad Branthwaite, aged 20 and 21 respectively, and they responded in kind with the sort of performances fans have been craving for too long: determined, committed and, in places, vibrant./p
pDobbin offered an attacking thrust from the left side of midfield, much needed in the absence of the injured a href=https://www.thesun.ie/who/dwight-mcneil/Dwight McNeil/a, while Branthwaite brought a degree of assuredness #8211; courtesy of a loan spell in Dutch football at a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/team/1437556/psv-eindhoven/PSV Eindhoven/a #8211; alongside a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/james-tarkowski/James Tarkowski/a. His 6ft 5in height was an added bonus in both penalty areas./p
p class=has-text-align-centerstronga href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/betting/20803800/the-best-online-casinos-in-the-uk/CASINO SPECIAL #8211; BEST ONLINE CASINOS FOR 2023/a/strong/p
pDyche took what might be considered the bold option of starting the pair #8211; and a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/arnaut-danjuma/Arnaut Danjuma/a up front #8211; when he could have stuck with experienced centre-back a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/michael-keane/Michael Keane/a and brought in a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/neal-maupay/Neal Maupay/a for the injured a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/dominic-calvert-lewin/Dominic Calvert-Lewin/a but the former a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/team/1225466/burnley/Burnley/a boss had presumably seen enough of what they offered and decided it was not enough./p
pIt helped inject some early urgency into the game but it soon became apparent the team was treading a familiar path./p
pThe running of Danjuma, centrally, and Dobbin, wide left, gave the appearance of being more threatening but the lack of cutting edge remained a problem./p
pEven when Danjuma was put through by a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/amadou-onana/Amadou Onana/a in the 14th minute, he looked offside and when Jose Sa tipped his shot onto the post, the flag went up./p
pTarkowski sliced wildly into the side-netting after Sa could only parry a shot from Dobbin from a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/james-garner/James Garner/a#8216;s fierce drive into the box, Branthwaite headed over an a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/ashley-young/Ashley Young/a free-kick and Danjuma volleyed wide from a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/nathan-patterson/Nathan Patterson/a#8216;s hanging cross./p
pRight-back Patterson#8217;s improvement after two poor games added an extra dimension to Everton#8217;s play but #8211; without a spearhead #8211; they failed to capitalise on his deliveries into the box./p
pDanjuma and Branthwaite, who headed into the arms of Sa, continued the tale of missed chances and it appeared recent history would repeat itself when Fabio Silva turned home Pedro Neto#8217;s with Wolves#8217; first shot on target in the 57th minute but Everton were spared by the offside flag./p
pEncouraged, Silva then fired wide with only a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/jordan-pickford/Jordan Pickford/a to beat after getting a run on Tarkowski./p
pSa denied Danjuma and then, equally brilliantly, Abdoulaye Doucoure after the midfielder#8217;s misjudged diving header bounced up and was tipped over./p
pEverton#8217;s £15million summer signing Youssef Chermiti was given his first 25 minutes for his new club but it was Doucoure who continued to look the most threatening breaking from midfield and yet another offside decision kept the match goalless after he had cut inside on his left foot./p
pThen came the sucker punch as Kalajdzic made the sort of impact inside 120 seconds which Everton have failed to do for 18 months as he rose highest to glance in a href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/pedro-neto/Pedro Neto/a#8216;s hanging, inswinging cross./p
p class=has-text-align-centerstronga aria-label=PADDY POWER - Get £20 back as cash if your first bet loses (opens in a new tab) href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/19782139/paddy-power-money-back-free-bets-football/ target=_blank rel=noreferrer noopenerPADDY POWER WELCOME OFFE/aa href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/19782139/paddy-power-money-back-free-bets-football/ target=_blank aria-label=PADDY POWER - Get £20 back as cash if your first bet loses (opens in a new tab) rel=noreferrer noopenerR/aa aria-label=PADDY POWER - Get £20 back as cash if your first bet loses (opens in a new tab) href=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/19782139/paddy-power-money-back-free-bets-football/ target=_blank rel=noreferrer noopener #8211; Get £20 back as cash if your first bet loses/a/strong/p
pemHow the game unfolded#8230;/em/p
div class=sun-row sun-row--football-widgets sun-row--opta-widget
div class=col sun-col-12
div class=table-data-wrap
div class=football-table-widget opta-widget-commentary opta-widget-size-large opta-widget-type-shortcode football-table-widget--page football-table-widget-English Premier League football-table-widget-default opta-widget-commentary
opta-widget
sport=football
widget=commentary
template=normal
competition=8
season=2023
match=2367564
group=
team=
date_from=
limit=
crop=
live=true
data_type=manual
order_by=time_descending
show_event_icons=true
show_minor_events=true
fixed_height_comments=0
show_live=true
show_logo=true
show_title=true
breakpoints=400
/opta-widget
/div
/div
/div
/div