Ashley Young netted a landmark Premier League goal as Everton regained form with an emphatic 4-0 victory over struggling Wolves.
Having been beaten 4-0 by Manchester United on Sunday, Everton responded in force at Goodison Park against a team also battling at the wrong end of the table.
Young opened the scoring with an excellent free-kick early on, bringing up his 50th Premier League goal, before James Tarkowski's apparent second was disallowed for an offside in the build-up.
Orel Mangala doubled Everton’s advantage with a stinging, deflected shot as he seized on a loose ball at the top of the box.
Everton’s set-piece proficiency continued in the second half – Craig Dawson twice turned into his own net as he challenged Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Jack Harrison squandered some glorious opportunities to make it 5-0 late on, as Everton claimed a morale-boosting win that takes them 15th, five points clear of the bottom three, with Wolves in 19th.
FT.
— Everton (@Everton) December 4, 2024
Four goals under the lights and our biggest home win since April 2019!!
Thank you for your incredible support tonight, Blues! #EVEWOL pic.twitter.com/LLXBe1u6qJ
Data Debrief: Young proves old can still be gold
Young is now the fourth-oldest scorer in Premier League history (39y 148d), and the oldest to score from a direct free kick.
Having marked his 50th Premier League goal at such an age, he becomes the oldest player to reach this milestone in the competition’s history, surpassing Mark Bright who netted his 50th in the competition aged 36 years and 225 days old in January 1999.
He becomes the sixth player in Premier League history to reach 50 goals in the competition without a single one being a header. 49 of those were right-footed.
Dawson was also celebrating a landmark of 300 Premier League appearances but had a night to forget. He became only the fifth player to score multiple own goals in the same Premier League match.