Marshall Munetsi became the Premier League’s first Zimbabwean goalscorer since 2011 as Wolves moved six points clear of the bottom three with a 1-1 draw against Everton.
Munetsi’s goal ultimately earned Wolves a point they will feel should have been more shortly before half-time as he finished off a lovely slide-rule pass from Jean-Ricner Bellegarde. The last Zimbabwean player to score in the Premier League was Benjani for Blackburn Rovers, some 14 years ago.
It looked like Everton’s ascendency up the table would continue as Jack Harrison scored an overdue first goal since February 2024, aided by a slight deflection through Matt Doherty’s legs, days after David Moyes had called for more end product from the Leeds loanee.
“We can’t keep expecting Beto or whoever it is to score, we need Jesper [Lindstrom] and Jack to come up with the goals – and Jack’s come up with one tonight,” Moyes said after the game. “I’m glad he got it, he’s scored plenty in his time with Leeds.”
Munetsi’s equaliser only seven minutes later dented those hopes but even losing the goalscorer to injury at half-time didn’t stop Wolves dominating the second period, albeit without significantly testing Jordan Pickford until the 73rd minute when Jorgen Strand Larsen pulled a fingertip stop out of the England goalkeeper.
Beto had Jose Sa at full stretch moments later before Charly Alcaraz fired straight at the Portuguese following a mazy run, but ultimately both sides appeared content to settle for a point as each looks to end the season in mid-table.
“As I promised, you saw the team spirit on the pitch and we competed. What I saw was a consistent performance, I’m not happy with the result of course, three points would be better than one.
“But in the end, we faced a strong team. A very physical team. The first half was 50-50, in the second we were better than them.”
“Really pleased with a point. We weren’t at our best but we showed we’ve got resilience. Wolves didn’t create loads of chances but they were the better side.
“It was always going to be an incredibly difficult game, with what Wolves are fighting for.
“A point is a point. Obviously we wanted three, we came here with a winning mentality, and in the second half we did a really good job without scoring, but we’ve moved a point closer to the team above us.
“We needed a bit more luck than we had today. We worked a lot, tried to create, especially when Pablo came in which gave us a boost offensively, but we couldn’t score.” – Agencies
