Charly Alcaraz Scores Late Winner to Propel Everton in Carabao Cup

Charly Alcaraz stepped off the bench and into the spotlight, smashing home an 80th-minute winner to edge Everton past a heavily-rotated Wolves side and into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 1-0 victory at Goodison Park.

He needed just three minutes.

Introduced late on, the midfielder collected the ball inside the area and unleashed a powerful, curling effort that finally broke Wolves’ resistance and preserved Everton’s unbeaten start to the season. For Alcaraz, it was only his second goal for the club, arriving 13 months after his first – also in this competition – but it carried the weight of a decisive moment in a tight cup tie.

Everton had earned it.

Facing a Wolves team showing nine changes from the weekend league win at Sheffield United, David Moyes’ side controlled long spells and created the clearer chances against the Championship visitors, who struggled to threaten until the second half.

Raul Jimenez, the match-winner at Bramall Lane, was handed a start but his evening ended in worrying fashion. The striker was forced off with an injury midway through the first half, a blow that disrupted Wolves’ already experimental line-up and left them blunt in attack.

The first half belonged to Everton, but they kept running into a familiar problem: a goalkeeper in inspired mood.

Joao Virginia, making his Wolves debut against his former club, repeatedly frustrated the hosts. His standout moment came in first-half stoppage time, when he reacted superbly to claw away a close-range header from Thierno Barry that seemed destined for the net. It was a save that drew gasps around Goodison and hinted it might be a long night for Everton’s forwards.

After the break, Wolves finally stirred.

Jordan Pickford, largely untested before the interval, was called into action early in the second half, springing to his left to keep out a strike from Adam Armstrong, Jimenez’s replacement. It was Wolves’ first shot on target of the game and a reminder that one lapse could undo Everton’s work.

The contest began to stretch. Spaces opened. Substitutes arrived.

Virginia continued to stand firm, this time denying Everton replacement Brennan Johnson as the hosts pushed harder, sensing the tie should not be allowed to drift towards penalties. The pressure built, the tempo rose, and Wolves sank deeper.

Eventually, the resistance cracked.

When the ball broke to Alcaraz inside the box, he didn’t hesitate. One touch to set, one vicious, arcing finish beyond Virginia, who for once had no answer. Goodison erupted, and in the directors’ box the celebration spread all the way to the political elite.

Watching on, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his Canadian counterpart – and fellow Everton supporter – Mark Carney rose to their feet, sharing in a moment that felt bigger than a routine third-round tie. For a club still chasing a first piece of silverware since 1995, nights like this matter.

Moyes’ team march on, still unbeaten, still in the hunt, and with a reminder that, from the bench, he may just have a match-winner ready to change the course of their season.