Joe Thomas with the big Everton talking points from the 3-2 win at Wolves
Joe Thomas is the Everton FC correspondent for the Liverpool ECHO. He follows the Blues home and away, providing match reports, analysis and insight into events at Goodison Park, Finch Farm and beyond. Joe spent more than a decade covering news on Merseyside, working on award-winning investigations and extensively covering matters related to the Hillsborough tragedy - including the recent criminal prosecutions. Always grateful for tips and feedback, he can be contacted at joe.thomas@reachplc.com and on Twitter via @joe_thomas18
WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 30: Beto of Everton celebrates after scoring their 1st goal during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton at Molineux on August 30, 2025 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Beto of Everton celebrates after opening the scoring in the 3-2 win at Wolves
(Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Everton made it three wins in a week after coming off best in an entertaining scrap with Wolves. There should have been little doubt over who would emerge victorious - and there was no need for it to become a fight - such was the manner in which the Blues exposed the home defence.
It was mistakes rather than the opposition that made the Molineux match a challenge with a nervy ending.
After goals from Beto, Iliman Ndiaye and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, which was his first for the club, proved enough to ensure happy scenes in the away end, here are the ECHO’s takeaways from a display that showed off a new Everton for a new era.
Everton don’t score goals like *that*
In the build-up to the game, with both sets of players on the pitch warming up, Wolves did something unusual. The coaching staff took the team away from their normal drills and loaded the box with players. They then had crosses sent in from the edge of the area and the corner flag.
The plan was obvious and the idea behind it was understandable.
The Blues won their first game under Sean Dyche, against Arsenal back in early 2023, through a James Tarkowski header from a Dwight McNeil corner. Through the rest of that campaign and since, set pieces have been one of few routes to a goal for a team that has been woefully short on creativity.
Dyche’s last win as Everton boss came against Wolves in December. All four goals, and a fifth that was disallowed, came from dead-ball situations.
The fear was there but it was mislaid. On this occasion, the Blues did not need set pieces to inflict damage.
That is a new phenomenon - the additions of Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish complementing the skill of Ndiaye to create a team that can actually create.
It was notable how in the build-up to the first goal those three players popped the ball around - happy to move, control and pass in tight situations around the edge of the box.
It was a deep ball from Vitalii Mykolenko that allowed Grealish to tee up Beto but before that Everton applied pressure and retained possession by knocking it around in the final third.
I wrote in the live blog after the opener that the Blues just do not score goals *like that*. And then they did the same for the second.
Finch Farm drills needed
For all the highs of a performance that was, for large parts, immensely satisfying. The Blues still made this a tough affair. It did not need to be that way.
They started with an air of authority, of controlled flamboyance, and quickly took the lead. Wolves looked bereft of ideas at how to deal with their visitors and the home supporters were beginning to get frustrated.
Then, from nowhere, Everton’s intensity dropped and misplaced passes began to allow the hosts a foothold in the match.
Wolves grew in confidence and so did the supporters and Hee Chan Hwang soon had his team level and the Blues had to deal with the resulting storm, one in which a series of big challenges and Vitor Pereira’s touchline antics whipped up the atmosphere even further.
Everton overcame that and their quality shone through again with the second, then the third. They looked as though they would run away with this match before Mykolenko switched off at the back post. That turned the game into a scrap again.
David Moyes was disappointed with those unforced errors and said he would attempt to address them on the training ground. He will hope they are a learning curve - there would be little worse than a fresh dawn of excitement being constantly undermined by individual mistakes.
Teething problems
Blues boss Moyes did accept the mistakes could have been teething problems as he attempts to transform his side. This has been a team built around defensive resilience and not much else through the battles for survival of recent years.
It will no doubt be a shock to the system for some of those players to now be playing in a side that has the potential to dominate and apply pressure in open play, not just from dead ball scenarios.
The adaptation from being a competent team to one with a degree of flair will excite supporters but there will be jarring moments as the ideologies clash - so patience from all parts of the club and fanbase will be a necessity.
Follow transfer deadline day live with the ECHO
Transfer deadline day is almost upon us and Everton still have business to do. It's already been a busy summer for David Moyes' side but they are still trying to strengthen their squad further.
A right-back and a central midfielder remain on the agenda for Moyes with lots of different names linked. It means that they club will likely be trying to do some late deals as the window comes to a close.
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Beto’s outlook improves
While there will be tough moments this season, there will be opportunities, too. Beto laboured through pre-season and at Leeds United, looking isolated as Everton struggled to get players in and around him.
The forward is clearly much better when facing goal than with his back to it and if events at Molineux are anything to go by, his life (and that of Thierno Barry’s) could become much easier.
The arsenal of attacking midfielders assembled by Moyes offer not just creativity but the chance to probe in the final third - meaning there is less reliance on him to chase lost causes and far more inviting crosses for him to attack.