Richarlison scored twice as Everton beat Wolves 3-2 in an entertaining Premier League contest at Goodison Park.
The Brazilian opened the scoring in the fifth minute, converting from 16 yards, following defensive miscommunication between Conor Coady and Rui Patricio, to spark a flurry of goals in the opening stages.
Romain Saiss pulled Wolves level from close range but Alex Iwobi converted Gylfi Sigurdsson’s pin-point cross to restore the Toffees’ lead before 12 minutes had passed.
Wolves thought they had earned a point when Raul Jimenez bravely headed home in the 78th minute, but Richarlison showed his own aerial prowess two minutes later to rise above Willy Boly and give Everton all three points.
Boly capped his side’s disappointing day by being dismissed in the closing seconds after receiving a second booking for a foul on the impressive Richarlison.
With only four Premier League games played, Everton climb to fifth in the table, while Wolves remain 17th and without a league win.
Everton came into the game having only scored one goal in their previous three Premier League matches.
But with Iwobi and Moise Kean making their first league starts, the Toffees looked transformed in the attacking third.
The summer signings added extra verve to Everton’s attack and allowed more space and time for Richarlison and Sigurdsson to work their magic.
Kean made a telling contribution in the build-up to Everton’s first goal, his hustling causing confusion in the home defence and allowing Richarlison to pounce.
Then, after Saiss had quickly levelled the scores, Sigurdsson was afforded too much room to whip in a delicious ball that Iwobi converted unmarked at the far post.
With his side pegged back for a second time, Richarlison, determined to be to on the winning side, made an excellent run into the box and leapt high above the Wolves defence to seal a hard-fought victory for Marco Silva’s side.
Due to their successful involvement in the Europa League qualifiers, Wolves came into the match having already played five times more than opponents Everton so far this season.
Manager Nuno Espirito Santo shuffled the pack and made four changes following his side’s victory over Torino on Thursday as he continued to manage European and Premier League commitments.
With Matt Doherty missing through fitness issues, Adama Traore kept his place to make his first Premier League start of the season.
Traore, featuring in the new right wing-back role he has adopted this season, played a pivotal role in Saiss’ equaliser, showing pace and power that Everton and France defender Lucas Digne couldn’t handle.
But just three minutes later, his lack of defensive awareness was exposed when he allowed Iwobi to drift into the box unmarked to put Everton back into the lead.
Wolves have gained 16 points from losing positions since the start of last season and showed resilience to come from behind at Goodison Park.
But with Wolves needing to rotate players to cope with the demands of Europe, they will require regular positive contributions from players like Traore if they are to be successful this season.