Everton verdict after a dramatic 3-2 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League
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
Jack Grealish of Everton celebrates with Everton fans after the team's victory in the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton at Molineux on August 30, 2025 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Buckle up, Everton supporters. This season threatens to be a ride like no other. After years of turgid, cautious and at times bewildering football centred on survival and survival only, you have a team that can play.
There will be ups and downs - there is a core of players here that will have to force themselves to adapt to a life in which possession stats and xG figures are no longer numbers dogged with humiliation. That will take time and it was Everton who made this game tough - not Wolves.
But David Moyes has assembled a team of technically-gifted players capable of creativity and intricacy that, if it can be used in the right way, should make this the season of excitement that has long been craved.
Exhibit one for this match report-cum-TED Talk is Jack Grealish. Four games into his loan spell there will be a chorus of clubs up and down Europe suddenly wondering why they did not explore his availability. The message from the 29-year-old’s camp is that he has traded the Alice band for a pony tail because he means business. Thomas Tuchel did not name him in his latest England squad. If he carries on like this he will be one of the first names on the teamsheet when the next international break comes around in October.
The 29-year-old exuded quality in this 3-2 win and was key in each of the goals. He is calm personified. His gentle back post nod across the box handed Beto the opener on a plate. For the second goal, he linked up with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall twice in quick succession, first to break behind the defence and shoot at Jose Sa before then feeding his overlapping teammate, sending him into the space from which he crossed for Iliman Ndiaye to prod home.
For the third goal his decision to dink the ball to Dewsbury-Hall allowed the Club World Cup winner the opportunity to take it in his stride and unleash a stunning, controlled half-volley that left Molineux dumbfounded as it bounced behind the line after kissing Sa’s crossbar.
The player abandoned by Pep Guardiola has become a talisman on Merseyside for more than his four assists, however. He was willing to take the ball under pressure and teased opposition players as he protected it, releasing tension from the away display. And he was willing to fight, too. Grealish ended this afternoon by climbing into the travelling supporters to give away his shirt while they serenaded him with chants of “Super Jack”. If he needed to be loved, he has found a place where he is quickly becoming adored.
Exhibit two: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Arguably Everton’s best player in an attacking quartet that showed little mercy, he was key to the clever passages of play in which Everton probed away at the home defence. Blues supporters have lived on an attacking diet of long balls and set pieces for as long as many can remember. In this form, Dewsbury-Hall helps to link defence and attack, left channel to right, midfield to the frontline. His ball to send Grealish in front of Sa was delicious, his work to create the second was intelligent and his finish for the third was spectacularly brutal.
Exhibit three: Iliman Ndiaye. His bursts of magic were the highpoint of last season and his reward for lifting bums from seats amid the drudgery of the first half of that campaign is to now be unleashed by players who can match his quality. He is unfortunate to lose his position on the left through the summer shake-up but instead of sulking he has made clear his presence among the silverware laden Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall is justified. Like Grealish, he is dogged and determined and his lung-busting runs from deep were an antidote to moments of anxiety. He now has two goals for the season and could have had more had he taken full advantage of the supply network around him.
Exhibit four: Beto. After a summer in which he went public with his frustration over the Guinea-Bissau international, Moyes insisted in the build up to this match that he has faith in his number nine - that his words were an effort to try and drive performances from him. On Saturday, Moyes found out that Beto sometimes responds better to shows of affection rather than concern. He was a handful, as ever, upon his return to the starting line-up and remains a raw talent.
This performance was evidence of the danger he can pose when he is properly supported, though. He let the ball run across him to draw the foul from Santiago Bueno that started the assault on the Wolves final third that led to the opener - which he provided. For the second goal he used his body to shield the ball and allow it to run into Ndiaye’s path. The supporting cast will provide chances aplenty - Moyes just needs someone to tap them in. Beto showed promise on that front under the gloomy skies of the Midlands.
For anyone reading this and getting carried away, it is at this point I pull you back with a familiar warning: This is Everton. For all the excitement provided going forward, Everton need to ensure they do not sacrifice too much at the back. Moyes conceded the mistakes that allowed Wolves to make a contest of this may have been teething problems as the side transitions from a backs-to-the-wall unit to one with attacking intent.
But they will have to learn quickly. Everton produced an imperious opening 20 minutes but lost momentum with a passage of sloppy play that allowed Marshall Munetsi to cross for Hee Chan Hwang to thump past Jordan Pickford after James Tarkowski passed him on to Michael Keane, who was in no position to play catch up. They restored a deserved lead with the goals either side of half-time and should have coasted through to the final whistle. Instead, Vitalii Mykolenko was caught out at the back post, allowing Rodrigo Gomes to steal in front of him and make this a nervy final 15 minutes.
Both goals were avoidable and turned this into a contest that Wolves, in truth, did not deserve to have a foothold in. There will be concern at Finch Farm about the drop-off in control after Idrissa Gueye was withdrawn with 15 minutes to go - the decision, Moyes said, made with the intention of introducing fresh legs. If anything, it showed just how badly Everton need an authoritative central midfielder to complement Gueye - something Moyes is actively pursuing in the final days of the transfer window.
Whatever happens before 7pm on Monday, one thing is clear - the foundations have been laid for a very different Everton and, while they are likely to infuriate, there are very good reasons to be excited.