Wolves 2-1 Everton: Player ratings as Raul Jimenez punishes sloppy Toffees

Two first-half goals from Max Kilman and Raul Jimenez were enough to guide Wolves to a 2-1 win over Everton on Monday evening.

Wolves absolutely dominated the first half, with both Ruben Neves and Francisco Trincao drawing smart saves from Jordan Pickford early on, and they even had the ball in the back of the net after 15 minutes through Hwang Hee-chan, whose effort was rightly ruled out for offside by VAR.

The well-deserved lead eventually came through Kilman, who rose highest from a corner to head home shortly before the half-hour mark.

It was 2-0 just a few minutes later when a shocking backpass from Ben Godfrey sent Jimenez through on goal, and the Mexican dinked home a lovely effort to double Wolves' advantage heading into the break.

Everton were better after the interval and found a route back into the game through Alex Iwobi's low strike, which was too powerful for Jose Sa as it nestled into the back of the net to set up an intriguing last 25 minutes.

Seconds later, Trincao weaved his way into the box and missed an absolute sitter, slicing wide from ten yards out when he really should have scored.

Rafa Benitez's men pushed for an equaliser and came close through Anthony Gordon, whose late header drew an excellent save from Sa, but ultimately they had left themselves with too much work to do and had to settle for defeat.

Wolves player ratings

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Jose Sa (GK) - 6/10 - Generally quite calm but fortunate not to pay for a woeful pass into Richarlison's path. Probably should have conceded but made up for it with a huge save to deny Gordon late on.

Max Kilman (CB) - 8/10 - Rose highest to net his first goal for the club and kept Everton's forwards quiet with real ease.

Conor Coady (CB) - 7/10 - Made an excellent block to bail out Sa and nearly injured himself in the process.

Romain Saiss (CB) - 6/10 - Fortunate not to be punished for an awful slice of the ball that gifted Gray a good chance. Otherwise pretty calm.

2. Midfielders

Nelson Semedo (RM) - 6/10 - Impressed with his energy. Didn't impress with a series of overhit passes. A mixed bag.

Ruben Neves (CM) - 8/10 - Stung Pickford's gloves early on but then focused on dominating midfield. Ran proceedings with ease.

Joao Moutinho (CM) - 8/10 - Seemed to have so much time on the ball and controlled the game perfectly. His partnership with Neves was superb.

Rayan Ait-Nouri (LM) - 8/10 - Looked really good going forwards and got himself into plenty of dangerous positions.

3. Forwards

Francisco Trincao (RW) - 7/10 - Terrorised Godfrey with his movement and impressed with the ball at his feet. Definitely should have scored.

Raul Jimenez (ST) - 7/10 - Enjoyed being the focal point of Wolves' attack and took his goal - his first at Molineux since October 2020 - with real class.

Hwang Hee-chan (LW) - 7/10 - Buzzed around Wolves' front line and was nearly impossible to mark.

4. Substitutes

Daniel Podence (LW) - 6/10 - Had a few nice runs but didn't really do a lot with the ball.

Leander Dendoncker (CM) - N/A - Saw two minutes at the end.

Fabio Silva (ST) - N/A - On to waste time.

Everton player ratings

5. Goalkeeper & defenders

Jordan Pickford (GK) - 6/10 - Probably should have done better with Kilman's header but generally did well. Stopped this from being embarrassing early on.

Seamus Coleman (RB) - 4/10 - Screamed a lot at those around him but probably just because he was mad at his own performance. Couldn't get near Ait-Nouri and looked to be lacking a yard (or two) of pace.

Mason Holgate (CB) - 3/10 - Half-responsible for Godfrey's error for the second goal by not knowing how to help his team-mate out. Looked like a rabbit in the headlights trying to stop Wolves and was a few inches away from conceding a penalty.

Michael Keane (CB) - 4/10 - Tried to play a lot of sketchy passes which got his team-mates into trouble, including for Godfrey's poor pass.

Ben Godfrey (LB) - 4/10 - Will get the blame for Jimenez's goal but simply made the most obvious mistake in a long line of Everton blunders.

6. Midfielders

Allan (DM) - 6/10 - Deserves credit for putting an unreal shift in. Had to cosplay as three or four midfielders to try and keep Wolves at bay. Didn't always get it right but was the only one really trying for most of the game.

Jean-Philippe Gbamin (DM) - 3/10 - Hauled off at half-time after another 45 minutes looking well off the pace. That injury has really taken its toll.

Andros Townsend (RM) - 6/10 - Actually spent most of his time as a central midfielder when Everton figured out how to stop the onslaught. Looked a little clunky at times but generally did his job alright.

Demarai Gray (AM) - 4/10 - His hot start to life at Everton is over. Everything he tried ended up going wrong. Sliced Everton's best first-half chance wide.

Alex Iwobi (LM) - 5/10 - Did absolutely nothing before his goal but took it well when the chance arrived.

7. Forward

Richarlison (ST) - 5/10 - Put in a decent shift but looked a little off the pace. Asked to be a hold-up striker and obviously can't really do that.

8. Substitutes

Fabian Delph (CM) - 6/10 - Added more composure and control to Everton's midfield. Helped even things up.

Anthony Gordon (LW) - 6/10 - Looked dangerous in his short time on the pitch.

Salomon Rondon (ST) - N/A - A late Hail Mary.