Wolves 4 (Angel 20, Mabete 24, Barnett 46, Lopes 62) Everton 2 (Whitaker 63, 90)
Wolves under-21s got back to winning ways in Premier League 2 as two goals in each half were enough to defeat Everton at Aggborough.
Dani Angel, Fil Mabete, Ty Barnett and Leo Lopes were all on target for James Collins’ side who were four up after an hour, before Charlie Whitaker’s brace improved the scoreline for the visitors.
Wolves started on the front foot and came close to opening the scoring when a Lopes volley looked to be arrowing towards the far corner, before it was vitally blocked by an Everton defender to divert the ball out for a corner.
Mabete then tried his luck from the edge of the area after a set-piece was only half cleared, but the defender’s left-footed attempt whistled just wide of the near post.
Wolves then took a deserved lead on the 20-minute mark as Ethan Sutherland’s delightful cross was met by the head of Angel who nodded down past Zan-Luk Leban.
Mabete doubled the advantage just four minutes later, and it came via a well-worked free-kick. The defender peeled away to the back post and made contact on the volley with Matty Whittingham’s ball in, and his effort crept past the goalkeeper for two.
Two goals in four minutes 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ZEurJzujoO
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) October 4, 2024
The Old Gold could’ve added a third before the break but both Owen Farmer and Barnett saw efforts rise over the bar after finding space to shoot on the edge.
Half-time | Wolves 2-0 Everton
It was three just 23 seconds after the restart as Sutherland’s cross from the left once again caused problems, this time proving too hot to handle for Zan-Luk Leban who parried the ball straight to Barnett who made no mistake from a few yards.
And it was four shortly after the hour mark as a loose clearance from the Everton defence went straight into the path of Lopes who curled a fine effort into the far corner.
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) October 4, 2024
However, the deficit was back to three almost immediately as Wolves lost their clean sheet. Luke Butterfield’s nicely weighted chip over the top was latched onto by Whitaker who pulled one back for the visitors.
The Toffees applied some more pressure in the final exchanges, and Jacob Beaumont-Clark forced Lewys Benjamin into a smart save as the goalkeeper prevented a second for the visitors.
Whitaker did score his second of the night on minute 90, sweeping home from Beaumont-Clark’s cross, but it was too little too late as the Old Gold held on for the three points.
Full-time | Wolves 4-2 Everton
COMING UP
Wolves under-21s travel to face Wrexham in their second Bristol Street Motors Trophy group stage fixture on Tuesday.
NEXT THREE
- 08/10 Wrexham (A) BSM Trophy
- 21/10 Sunderland (A) PL Cup
- 25/10 West Ham (H)
TEAMS
Wolves | Benjamin, Okoduwa, Sutherland (Voice 82), Mabete, Pond, Ashworth, Farmer (Esen 71), Whittingham, Angel (Holman 82), Barnett (Bradbury 82), Lopes (Edozie 71).
Everton | Leban, Patterson, Heath, Samuels-Smith, Tierney, Thomas (Butler 46) (Barker 52), Beaumont-Clark, Butterfield, Benjamin (Morgan 88), Bates (Patterson 79), Whitaker.
Subs not used | Barnsley.
