• Home side booed off after Wolves nearly snatch win
• ‘One point from two games not good enough’ – Mikel Arteta

Everton’s rich history is now told in a continuous seam of panels around Goodison Park, from their formation in 1878 to the present day. 2011, they hope, will record the first trophy of David Moyes’s reign and a season befitting the club’s finest squad since the 1987 panel showing Kevin Ratcliffe with the league title. So far it would simply read: ‘another false start’.

The ‘Everton Timeline’ – as it is called – is certainly effective, as collisions between fans with their eyes fixed sideways and general astonishment at the inclusion of a picture of Nick Barmby testified on Saturday. The Everton team is not. Early days, of course, yet already Moyes’s side are struggling with the weight of expectation and have only themselves to blame for trailing the leading pack once again.

Frustration is settling in on the campaign where under-achievement will be less tolerated. “Two games and only one point is not good enough for us,” Mikel Arteta admitted. “We need to start winning and getting points because there are big teams ahead of us who are winning.”

By contrast Wolves are progressing according to plan. Mick McCarthy spent big this summer in the context of Molineux’s recent history and in comparison with many Premier League peers. He was without two players acquired to push Wolves further away from trouble this season, Steven Fletcher and Stephen Hunt, but that target looked comfortably attainable without them here.

That McCarthy’s team were well-drilled, unyielding and resilient was no surprise to Everton, who dominated first-half possession but lacked the guile or finishing touch to make immediate amends for their opening day defeat at Ewood Park. But they were subdued far too easily by Wolves’ desire to take the game to their hosts after the break.

The introduction of the Algeria international midfielder Adlène Guedioura for George Elokobi, the left-back, gave Karl Henry the added bite required to wrest control of midfield. Indeed the visitors rightly sensed victory once Sylvan Ebanks-Blake converted a fine counterattack to equalise with 15 minutes remaining. Only desperate blocks on Matthew Jarvis by Everton’s central defenders, Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka, prevented their second successive 2-1 win.

McCarthy, who blamed himself for Wolves’ first-half retreat, said: “We could have been out of sight in the first half but we defended really well in front of Marcus Hahnemann. Marcus didn’t have much to do but the back four, the midfield and the front two were all bollocksed with all the work they had to do.”

Everton’s performance petered out towards the inevitable boos on the final whistle. Whether injury-plagued, fully fit, complete with new signings or soldiering on without, they have struggled to hit the ground settled or running under Moyes. With Aston Villa and Manchester United to come in the Premier League, they needed another of their belligerent responses to keep this season’s aspirations intact.

The sum total of their dominance in the opening period was a sliced Diniyar Bilyaletdinov shot, a save by Hahnemann from Johnny Heitinga, a close shave from Steven Pienaar and, finally, after the referee Lee Mason somehow failed to award a penalty for a foul by Stephen Ward on Arteta, a scrambled goal from Tim Cahill from the subsequent free-kick. Controversy surrounded both goals, with Wolves appealing for a foul by Cahill on Jody Craddock and Everton likewise when Guedioura caught Heitinga in a 50-50 challenge before Ebanks-Blake levelled.

It was instructive that Moyes refused to give the benefit of the doubt to his players, preferring instead to question Heitinga’s commitment to the tackle and the lazy loss of possession by Louis Saha that demonstrated why he was demoted to the bench in the first place. The Everton manager said: “We were on the attack but we got involved in overdoing it with one-touch passes. We shouldn’t have had to make the tackle but I still would have hoped we’d have come out with the ball.”

The afternoon was uninformative for Fabio Capello, with Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines subdued and Jack Rodwell strangely left on the bench throughout. In the absence of outstanding homegrown talent it was left to Arteta to admit that, now he is eligible for British citizenship, England is a possibility. “If one day the opportunity comes obviously I would have to consider it very seriously,” said the Spaniard. Not on current form.

Premier LeagueEvertonWolverhampton WanderersAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

If brilliance has a drawback, it lies in the sense of anti-climax when exalted standards are not met. Wolves produced arguably their outstanding result and performance of the campaign in winning at West Ham last Tuesday; Everton excelled in defeating Manchester City 24 hours later. With neither capable of replicating that display, a creditable result for both clubs nonetheless appeared underwhelming.

As two sides managed by former central defenders proved resolute enough to keep a clean sheet, they were respectable rather than remarkable. Unbeaten runs were extended – Everton have now been defeated just twice in 18 games while Wolves’ past four matches have yielded 18 points – but perspiration was in greater supply than inspiration.

Nevertheless, Everton’s confidence was apparent in the construction of several moves of high class. After five minutes, the Wolves defence were exquisitely unlocked. Steven Pienaar, switched from the left flank to the right by manager David Moyes, combined with Louis Saha, collecting the Frenchman’s return pass to accelerate into the penalty area. Rather than shooting, he took the unselfish option and squared the ball for Leon Osman. His low shot was superbly saved by Marcus Hahnemann.

The American was also alert to hold shots from Osman, Saha and Leighton Baines. When he was beaten, Saha’s superb shot left the woodwork reverberating as it clipped the bar on its way over. The striker had taken Baines’s diagonal ball on his chest before unleashing a fearsome drive. It was another indication of the influence of the left-back, who was being watched by Fabio Capello.

Everton continued to press. Saha propelled himself through the air to meet Osman’s cross, but headed it over the bar; Tim Cahill met Baines’s corner but his glancing header went the wrong side of the post. In the last minute, Cahill headed the ball into the path of substitute Dan Gosling and Hahnemann made a second vital stop. In added time, Cahill’s improvised overhead kick was cleared off the line by Jody Craddock.

Premier LeagueWolverhampton WanderersEvertonRichard Jollyguardian.co.uk