Summary Everton's search for their first points of the season continues after a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Wolves. Despite dominating proceedings, one lapse in concentration cost Everton the game. One Toffees ace had a particularly forgettable performance.
Everton are still waiting to get their first points of the season on board, as Sean Dyche’s side were defeated 1-0 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on matchweek three.
The Toffees seemed to dominate proceedings, though one late moment of lost concentration cost the Blues the game in agonising fashion, forcing Dyche to take matters back to the drawing board.
How did Everton perform against Wolves?
It was a frustratingly bleak afternoon at Goodison Park, as Everton searched for their win this term in a fixture where they looked doomed before kick-off.
Both Everton and Wolves have been notoriously low-scoring sides, with both clubs threatened by relegation last season.
The first half epitomised that expectation ahead of kick-off, though it was the hosts that were demanding the Old Gold to defend, as the chances kept coming for Dyche’s side.
New signing Arnaut Danjuma was awarded his full debut for the Blues and looked to be an impressive spark in the first half, with the Dutchman entering the tunnel at half-time unsure how he hadn’t put his side ahead.
He fired wide on two occasions, as well as being put clean through on goal to see his effort tipped onto the post by Jose Sa, who put in a real shift for the visitors between the sticks to Everton’s dismay.
When the hosts eventually put the ball in the net through Abdoulaye Doucoure in the 77th minute, it was flagged as offside in a tight call that was eventually confirmed by VAR.
15 total shots in the 90 minutes played, seven of which were on target amounted to defeat for the Toffees, via Sofascore, who were left stunned in the 87th minute as substitute Sasa Kalajdzic sealed the win for Wolves after some horrendous defending.
Everton remain goalless and pointless after their opening three games of the 2023/24 season, with a long list of areas to improve on going forward.
How did Nathan Patterson play against Wolves?
After 90 minutes of drama, one moment stuck out for all of Everton’s efforts – that, of course, being the Wolves goal.
The two culprits for the hosts' downfall were the dreary combination of James Tarkowski and Nathan Patterson, who switched off and were unable to prevent the goal.
In the instance of conceding, Tarkowski was out of position and lost his marker, leaving Patterson to clean up the pieces, which he was unable to do.
Away from the latter stages and the game-decider, the full-back had a day to forget, where he was branded as “very poor” by the BBC’s Dave Downie.
At right-back, the defender, who was captured from Rangers last summer, completed just one of his seven attempted crosses and none of his attempted three long balls, via Sofascore.
Zero successful dribble attempts and a whopping 20 losses of possession capped off a weak afternoon for the 21-year-old, who received a 5/10 match rating from the Liverpool Echo’s Connor O’Neill.
It’ll be interesting to see if Dyche ditches the Scot for the next fixture, with most of the selection questionable after the first three games, with nothing to show for any of their work put in over the summer.
