Filed under: Everton, Wolverhampton, Premier League, Football, Match Reports
Three clinically-taken Everton goals in 24 first-half minutes condemned Wolverhampton to a disastrous defeat at Molineux as their hopes of Premier League survival were dealt a hammer blow.Jermaine Beckford opened the scoring in the 21st minute before wonder strikes from Phil Neville and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov just before half-time all but ended the contest as David Moyes' side made it seven league games unbeaten.
However, opposite number Mick McCarthy now has two weeks to reflect on one of his team's worst displays of the campaign after watching his defence crumble against an under-strength Toffees team.
Having spurned the opportunity to place further pressure on their rivals in Saturday's early kick-off they are now certain to end the weekend still rooted in the bottom three and, after being beaten by Newcastle last weekend, are beginning to look doomed for the drop.
McCarthy opted for an attacking formation by going with two up front and it almost paid off as his team began brightly, first Jamie O'Hara volleyed over following a well-worked corner before Steven Fletcher saw a goal-bound header cleared off the line by Leon Osman.
Yet it was Everton who took the lead against the run of play midway through the first half when Beckford was allowed to ghost in unmarked at the near post to convert Leon Osman's inviting centre from wide on the right.
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Adlene Guedioura came within a whisker of an equaliser when his exquisite curling effort crept the wrong side of the post but it was the visitors who were creating the better chances, with Beckford denied a virtual carbon copy of his first by a fine reaction save from Wayne Hennessey.
Moyes' men were soon celebrating, though, when Beckford teed up Neville for a 20-yard drive into the top-left corner just seconds after the Wolves goalkeeper had made another outstanding reflex save to keep the ball out after it had taken a wicked deflection off George Elokobi.
By now, the Wolves defence was in disarray and the Toffees should have made it three seconds later when Magaye Gueye, making his full Premier League debut, raced clean through only to be foiled by Hennessey.
It did not stop the rampant Merseysiders grabbing a third before half-time though, as Bilyaletdinov capitalised on a loose pass from Fletcher in midfield before driving on towards the Wolves box and rifling an unstoppable, swerving shot beyond Hennessey.
With the game virtually sewn up, the visitors were content to soak up pressure from the home side, however keeper Tim Howard was only seriously called into action twice, first to turn Karl Henry's well-struck drive around the post and then, from the resulting corner, he showed fine reflexes to keep out a Fletcher header.
The only blemish on an otherwise perfect afternoon for the Toffees came late on when Beckford showed his disgust at being substituted and was involved in a heated exchange of words with Moyes.
REACTION:
Moyes paid tribute to skipper Neville after he capped a fine display with his first goal in three years:
"His level of professionalism means that whatever he does in his life after football, whether it be management or journalism, he will be a success. He works really, really hard."
On Neville's goal:
"It was a big surprise, I thought he was crossing it. I haven't seen him score in training, never mind the games!"
On his touchline bust-up with Beckford:
"He scored a great goal and was probably the instigator of our goals but I just thought in the second half he needed to work harder. I told him that if you play at Everton, that's what you do."
Neville felt their experience showed:
"The gaffer told us to play the ball forward with our pace up front and we didn't do that early on," he told Sky Sports. "But our Premier League experience showed in the end. We showed a good spirit and we should probably have scored four or five before the break. We have a nice run going."
On seeing Bilyaletdinov score an even better goal than him:
"I was gutted when Billy tucked it in! But with the players we have out we are showing a spirit and strength and hopefully we can look at the teams above us now."
McCarthy has demanded a response from his team following their lacklustre showing:
"We are a bottom three team at the minute. Quite clearly we are not one of the best teams in the league but we have had great responses before."
On the contest:
"We started really well. It was Moyesey giving out. They scored the first goal and not us and it was hugely disappointing. We almost equalised immediately and we had a bit of play.
"The free-kick we gave away, it was an unnecessary free-kick. And then Phil Neville, who hasn't scored for I don't know how many years, finds an unbelievable strike that goes through about 18 players."
On having to wait two weeks until their next game:
"The fortnight drives us mad. We want to play next week, it's not ideal but there's nothing we can do about it."
WHAT IT MEANS: For Wolves, the threat of relegation has never loomed so large and they simply must beat Fulham in a fortnight. A European spot looks beyond Everton still but they can relax after guaranteeing they will be in the top flight next term.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/04/09/wolverhampton-0-everton-3-jermaine-beckford-phil-neville/
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