Sylvan Ebanks-Blake's late strike earned Wolves a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Everton.
Wolves striker notches late equaliser to leave Toffees win-less
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake's late strike gave Wolves a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Everton at Goodison Park.
Despite being under pressure for long periods of the game, Ebanks-Blake cancelled out Tim Cahill's first-half opener after 74 minutes to maintain Wolves' unbeaten record this season.
The Toffees looked to be coasting towards a win when Cahill reacted fastest to a blocked Mikel Arteta free-kick just before half-time.
David Moyes' men had the lion's share of possession and created the better openings, limiting Wolves to chances from set-pieces and speculative efforts from distance.
But Wolves substitute Adlene Guedioura initiated a swift counter attack in the last quarter of the game, which finished with Kevin Doyle teeing up Ebanks-Blake to level the score from close range.
Toffees substitute Louis Saha came closest to a winner for the home side, but his looping header fell onto the roof of the net in the closing minutes.
Bright start
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov looked bright in the early stages and had the first real chance for the home side after five minutes when he booted Arteta's half-cleared free-kick over the bar.
Neat work from Cahill down the right played Sylvain Distin into the box in the 16th minute but the impressive Jody Craddock swept the ball off his toes.
As the home side continued to press, it was Leighton Baines' turn to curl a set-piece inches over the bar after Karl Henry was adjudged to have hauled down Steven Pienaar.
The home side had their best chance in the 25th minute when John Heitinga smashed a shot from 25 yards which was acrobatically tipped over the bar by Marcus Hahnemann.
The first half threatened to end in controversy when replays clearly showed Arteta had been fouled by Stephen Ward in the box, only for referee Lee Mason to award a free-kick.
But it hardly mattered as moments later Arteta's low set-piece struck the Wolves wall and rebounded for Cahill to slam left-footed into the roof of the net.
Intent
It was business as usual after the break with the home side showing all the attacking intent and going close through Jermaine Beckford who slipped while shooting in the box.
Then Bilyaletdinov missed a simple chance to grab a second goal when the busy Cahill headed down in the box and the Russian completely miskicked with only Hahnemann to beat.
In an all-too-rare foray forward, Wolves won a corner in the 63rd minute which Jarvis fired in low but Craddock could only find the side-netting with his attempted back-heel flick-on.
Wolves found their equaliser out of nowhere and there was an air of controversy about it after substitute Guedioura won the ball in a hard challenge on Heitinga.
Guedioura then released Doyle to charge down the right and with the home defence nowhere he hit a low cross for Ebanks-Blake to sweep home from close range.
Moyes made a double substitution in a desperate bid to claim back the points. Cahill went close with an attempted flick, and then Saha headed on to the roof of the net.
| Everton |
Team Statistics |
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
| 8 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 3 |
Corners |
3 |
| 17 |
Fouls |
16 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 76.8 |
Passing Success |
60.7 |
| 15 |
Tackles |
13 |
| 73.3 |
Tackles Success |
69.2 |
| 59.3 |
Possession |
40.7 |
| 55.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
44.4 |
|
