New Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui marked his Premier League bow with a dramatic late win as Rayan Ait-Nouri’s 95th-minute strike secured a 2-1 victory over Everton at Goodison Park, which moved Wolves off the bottom of the table.
The Spaniard saw his side reach the Carabao Cup quarter-finals midweek with a victory over Gillingham. Still, Yerry Mina gave Everton the perfect start when he flashed home a header from Dwight McNeil’s corner to mark his return to the team.
Wolves settled and leveled when Joao Moutinho expertly spotted the run of Daniel Podence in a fine move started from a cleverly-worked set-piece.
Neither side had done enough to turn one point into three during a tense second half. Still, deep into stoppage time, the Wolves broke upfield, and Adama Traore’s cross was deflected into Ait-Nouri’s path for an untidy but priceless finish.
The win moves Wolves to 13 points in 17th place, one position and one point below Everton, following their fourth straight defeat in all competitions to heap the pressure on Frank Lampard.
Vieira reacts to Crytal Palace’s defeat by Fulham
Eberechi Eze had an uninspiring outing against Fulham and was sacrificed early after the Mitchell sending off
Patrick Vieira says that despite his side’s two red cards in their defeat against Fulham at Selhurst Park, the overall performance let Palace down.
“From the first minute, I would say that Fulham was the better team,” he said in his post-match press conference.
“We had to do aspects of the game where we weren’t present, and at the end, we get what we deserve.
“We didn’t do anything today to get something from that game. It is really difficult to understand right now, and this is one of my frustrations because I was pleased with what I saw in the last couple of weeks of training, and I expected a better performance from the team.
“This shows the quality of the Premier League again. Look at Fulham and the team and the quality they have. We still have a lot of work to do to compete, and today we didn’t compete.
“Of course, the two red cards didn’t help us, but outside of those situations, it was more the performance from the first minute that let us down.”
And the losers are…
With the ‘Boxing Day’ EPL festivities fixture between Arsenal and Wes Ham United yet to be played, it’s been another dramatic day with a topsy-turvy ending for home teams.
Except for Brentford, who drew 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur, other home sides fell at the swords of their visitors. Even Brentford had to squander a comfortable 2-0 lead to settle for a disappointing draw with their visitors.
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodger’s job continues to hang on the precipice. Still, Newcastle’s 3-0 overpower of the former Premier League champions at their King Power stadium may have sent the manager’s job over the edge.
Crystal Palace seemed to lack ideas allowing Fulham, their visitors, to run amock at Selhurst Park. For their unprofessional lackadaisy, Crytal Palace was hammered 3-0 by a Fulham team that showed more purpose, grit, and tenacity.
If Crystal Palace were rudderless on their home turf against their less illustrious visitors, Everton betrayed the appearance of composure at their Goodison Park home ground, where they lost 1-2 to an inspired Wolverhampton Wanderers despite taking the lead 7 minutes into the encounter.
Brighton and Hove Albion continue their flash-in-the-pan ride this season by surpassing their expectations with another deserved 3-1 victory, this time away to Southampton.
Less surprising was Aston Villa’s easy 1-3 manhandling by powerhouse Liverpool at Villa Park.
- Brentford 2 Tottenham Hotspur 2 FT
- Crystal Palace 0 Fulham 3 FT
- Everton 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 FT
- Leicester City 0 Newcastle United 3
- Southampton 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 3 FT
- Aston Villa 1 Liverpool 3 FT
- Arsenal 20:00 West Ham United FT
