Everton beat Wolves 1-0 in the Carabao Cup third round at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Charly Alcaraz scored the only goal in the 80th minute.
Wolves were knocked out of the competition despite a solid performance. They had a chance through Adam Armstrong, but goalkeeper Joao Virginia, excellent on his debut, was beaten late on.
Wolves made nine changes and impressed in the first half, frustrating Everton. Raul Jimenez's early free-kick was their closest effort, but he was later withdrawn due to injury, a worrying sign ahead of the Black Country derby.
Everton grew into the match and thought they had scored on 29 minutes when Jake O'Brien headed into the side netting. Wolves defenders made brave blocks to deny Hayden Hackney, and Virginia also stopped Tierno Barry from close range.
Virginia, making his Wolves debut at his former club, then produced a stunning one-handed save in stoppage time to turn Barry's header over the bar, a strong contender for save of the season.
The teams went in level at half-time.
Wolves had the first big chance of the second half when Sean Neave shrugged off Vitalii Mykolenko and set up Armstrong, but Jordan Pickford saved with his leg. Virginia then made a good save with his feet to deny Brennan Johnson, having earlier frustrated James Garner.
Wolves' resistance was broken with ten minutes left. Tyler Dibling passed to Alcaraz, who turned past Toti and curled a shot past Virginia.
Wolves pushed for an equaliser and Tommy Doyle forced a save from Pickford late on, but they could not force penalties and their Carabao Cup campaign ended.
Full-time score: Everton 1-0 Wolves.
Everton: Pickford, Maitland-Niles, O'Brien, Keane, Mykolenko, Garner, Hackney (Alcaraz 77), Dewsbury-Hall, Dibling, Grealish (George 77), Barry (Johnson 58). Unused subs: Travers, King, Brathwaite, Tarkowski, Graham, Olayiwola.
Wolves: Virginia, Tchatchoua (Trippier 74), Toti, Krejci (Djiga 45), Konan, Boubacar, James (Bellegarde 63), Doyle, Chirewa (Bertrand 74), Neave, Jimenez (Armstrong 38). Unused subs: Ruddy, Munetsi, Mane.
Source: www.wolves.co.uk — Read the original article
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