Munetsi rescues draw against Everton but Wolves miss Cunha’s cutting edge

On a weekend where Southampton and Ipswich had already lost, and Leicester face a difficult Sunday trip to Chelsea, Wolves were only able to add an extra one-point cushion between themselves and the relegation zone after drawing with Everton.

There were individual milestones as Jack Harrison scored his first goal in over a year for Everton and Marshall Munetsi opened his account for Wolves but it was a turgid affair at Molineux. Wolves will be left to wonder if Matheus Cunha’s absence will be more costly than his three-match ban. The next two fixtures are very winnable for Wolves with a trip to rock-bottom Southampton before hosting West Ham. The results could define the season for a team now six points above the red line.

After being sent off for a headbutt at Bournemouth last week, Cunha’s role was reduced to posing for photos and signing autographs for mascots before kick-off. His head coach, Vitor Pereira, would have preferred him to have shown a similar amount of affability when in close proximity to Milos Kerkez and had him available for more than public relation duties.

Without Cunha, Wolves needed to find a way to create. They enjoyed a lot of early possession but were unable to produce anything tangible as Everton restricted their work in the final third.

The visitors were more incisive and had three chances in quick succession. Abdoulaye Doucouré had a shot blocked on the line, Jarrad Branthwaite’s goalbound header flicked wide off a golden shoulder and Beto was too slow to reach a Harrison cross.

It was the warning Wolves needed to increase their efforts in front of a loud Molineux crowd. Rayan Aït-Nouri produced a mazy dribble through the middle of the pitch before seeing his shot deflected wide by James Tarkowski. The subsequent corner reached Munetsi who must have thought he had scored until Jordan Pickford’s foot repelled his header.

It did not seem likely that a piece of supreme quality would ignite the match and so it proved. Instead Emmanuel Agbadou’s dreadful clearance was headed straight back by Tarkowski to Jesper Lindstrøm, who slipped when passing the ball out to Harrison on the left-hand side of the box from where he took aim and found the bottom corner thanks to a deflection off Matt Doherty’s heel.

Jack Harrison opens the scoring for Everton against Wolves. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA

Considering the effective and efficient machine Everton have become under David Moyes, a one-goal deficit seemed like a mountain to climb but Wolves were eager to reach the summit. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde fizzed a shot inches wide in the aftermath of the opener but he was more dynamic with an assist soon after. The Frenchman slid a pass through the defence which Branthwaite failed to deal with and Munetsi slid home his first goal for Wolves.

Munetsi did not, however, return for the second half, replaced by Pablo Sarabia at the break. The Spaniard is a more imaginative attacker with the ball at his feet and played on the right-hand side of Pereira’s front three. In the absence of Cunha, Bellegarde and Sarabia between them were the most likely combination to replace the man in the stands.

Wolves’ No 9 Jørgen Strand Larsen had received nothing akin to service. The Norwegian needs the ball in the box for him to thrive and come alive, instead he was playing with his back to goal, doing his best to hold it up while hoping support would arrive in time. Strand Larsen eventually showed his frustration with a needless kick on Tarkowski after being dispossessed, forcing the referee Stuart Attwell to show him a yellow card.

Everton were also without their most skilful outlet, Iliman Ndiaye, making it understandable that they were blunt in the final third, too. Moyes’ attempt to sharpen things up was to send Carlos Alcaraz on in place of Doucouré but the Everton manager was also fearful of Wolves overrunning Everton, so changed formation to include Tim Iroegbunam as a third central midfielder.

Strand Larsen did eventually test Pickford with a shot across the England international, which he palmed away. Everton went up the other end, led by Alcaraz on the break. The Argentinian played in Beto to go one-on-one with José Sá but the goalkeeper was equal to the finish as the No 1s ensured each team left with a point.