Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Vitor Pereira spoke to the media following his side's 1-1 draw with Everton at Molineux
Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Vitor Pereira hailed Everton as a “strong team” but believed his side should have beaten David Moyes’ men. Jack Harrison fired the Blues ahead on 33 minutes at Molineux but Marshall Munetsi earned a share of the spoils with an equaliser seven minutes later as the contest finished 1-1.
Pereira, who replaced Gary O’Neil, who was sacked 11 days after Wolves were beaten 4-0 in the reverse fixture between these sides, was asked whether the result would be a precious point for his side and replied: “I don’t know. We’ll see in the end, whether it’s important or not.
“You could see the team spirit on the pitch and the promise from me that we’d compete. What I saw from my team was a consistent performance.
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“I’m not happy with the result of course, three points are better than one. But we faced a strong team, a very physical team.
“The first half was 50/50, but the second half in my opinion, we were better than them. Near the end though, they had a chance to score from a counter-attack and we had another situation to score.
“We must accept the result and I’m proud of my players, the quality, the confidence and our supporters.
“Today was not about tactics. We’re used to talking about tactics, but we need our identity and ideas, in the way that we play.
“At the end of the day, the most-important thing for me was the spirit of the team.”
Despite the Portuguese boss’ assessment that his side dominated proceedings after the break, Beto still had a big chance to win the game for Everton, only for home keeper Jose Sa to deny him in a one-on-one situation. Pereira said: “This is football. This is why the Premier League is the best in the world because you can be there in offensive midfield and one long ball or second ball and they can score.
“With the quality of the players that can happen. Beto is a strong player, a very strong player, he can score from a long ball played deep or in space.
“Sa was very focused in the game and what we asked him to be because if you make one mistake, it can be one goal. I asked them for a clean sheet, it was not possible, but we were very consistent.”