Charly Alcaraz Secures Everton's Victory in Carabao Cup

Charly Alcaraz stepped off the bench and into the spotlight, smashing home an 80th-minute winner to keep Everton’s unbeaten start to the season intact and dump a much-changed Wolves out of the Carabao Cup at Goodison Park.

Three minutes. That was all the Argentine needed. Introduced late, he took aim inside the area and sent a powerful, curling strike beyond Joao Virginia to seal a 1-0 victory and ignite a previously frustrated home crowd.

It was only Alcaraz’s second goal for the club, his first coming 13 months ago in the same competition. The timing could hardly have been better.

Everton grind, then strike

Everton had to work for this. Wolves, despite making nine changes from the side that beat Sheffield United at the weekend, were stubborn and organised, dragging the tie into a scrap rather than a spectacle.

Raul Jimenez, the match-winner at Bramall Lane, was handed a start but his night ended in worrying fashion. He limped off midway through the first half, cutting short a rare chance to build on his weekend heroics.

Everton carried the greater threat before the break. Thierno Barry thought he had finally broken through in first-half stoppage time, only for Virginia – on debut against his former club – to fling himself across goal and claw away a close-range header with a superb reaction save.

The pattern barely shifted after the interval. Wolves created little, but when they did, Jordan Pickford stood firm. Adam Armstrong, on in place of Jimenez, forced the England goalkeeper into his first serious action of the night early in the second half with the visitors’ first shot on target.

Virginia’s resistance broken

Virginia refused to wilt under the growing Everton pressure. He stood up well to deny substitute Brennan Johnson, stretching the tie into its nerviest phase as the clock ticked towards the final 10 minutes.

Then the resistance snapped.

Alcaraz, still fresh, found a pocket of space inside the box and whipped a fierce effort beyond Virginia’s reach. No theatrics from the keeper this time; the strike was too clean, too precise.

Goodison erupted. In the stands, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney – both declared Everton supporters – celebrated with everyone else, sensing the significance of a side still in the hunt for a first major trophy since 1995.

It was only the third round of the Carabao Cup, but for David Moyes and his players, this felt like more than just progression. It felt like a reminder that, on nights like this, Everton can still find a match-winner from the bench and keep a long, restless fanbase dreaming of silverware again.