Heady win for Everton, Wolves bite 3 points off Liverpool

LIVERPOOL, February 4

New Everton boss Sean Dyche’s reign began with a shock 1-0 victory over Premier League leaders Arsenal as James Tarkowski’s second-half header saw the Toffees win their first game since October and move out of the relegation zone today.

The defeat left Arsenal with a five-point lead over second-placed Manchester City, who visit Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow, with the top two having both now played 20 games. Everton looked a much-improved unit in Dyche’s first game in charge after replacing Frank Lampard and they troubled Arsenal throughout, coming close to opening the scoring in the first half through Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Tarkowski finally broke the deadlock to score his first goal for the hosts on the hour with a header from a corner by fellow ex-Burnley man Dwight McNeil which flew past Aaron Ramsdale.

Tarkowski, who Dyche signed when he was at Burnley, said he hoped the win could help change the prospects for Everton, who had only won three league games all season before today.

“It has been tough for us and the fans and for all the staff in the club. Hopefully this is the turning point for the club, there is a lot of talent here,” he told BT Sport.

Relegation-threatened Wolverhampton Wanderers humiliated Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool with a 3-0 win over the misfiring Reds, who are yet to win in the Premier League this year.

Wolves cut through Liverpool’s shaky defence from the off, missing two good chances before a Hwang Hee-Chan cutback went in off the heel of Joel Matip for a 5th minute own goal.

In Manchester, Marcus Rashford won a first-half penalty before scoring himself in the second half as Manchester United survived a straight red card for Casemiro to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Old Trafford.— Reuters