Rayan Ait-Nouri scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner as Wolves came from behind to win at fellow strugglers Everton and move off the bottom of the Premier League.
A first away victory of the season proved a perfect late Christmas present for Julen Lopetegui, who becomes the first Wolves manager to win his first top-flight match in charge of the club since John Barnwell in 1978.
The visitors made far from an ideal start, falling behind early on when Yerry Mina glanced Dwight McNeil’s near-post corner into the net.
However, they levelled midway through the first period from a well-worked corner routine with Daniel Podence calmly sliding the ball past home goalkeeper Jordan Pickford from Joao Moutinho’s lobbed pass to the back post.
It was no more than the visitors deserved in an entertaining encounter but one in which the attacking shortcomings of both sides came into focus.
Idrissa Gueye’s incisive pass to Anthony Gordon should have allowed the hosts to regain the lead but the Everton winger was superbly denied by Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa, while Neal Maupay twice failed to capitalise from promising positions.
It was far from one-way traffic though, Wolves forward Diego Costa was unable to get enough power on a diving header to beat Pickford, who also repelled Hugo Bueno’s placed effort after the break.
And while Everton saw Ben Godfrey’s late effort hacked to safety by Ruben Neves, Wolves went up the other end in the 95th minute to claim a valuable victory, with Ait-Nouri turning the ball past Pickford from Adama Traore’s cross.
The win took Wolves up to 18th, a place below Everton who have now lost their past four games.
