Marco Silva expects “fantastic” Richarlison to keep getting better following the Brazilian’s talismanic contribution to Everton’s absorbing victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.

Richarlison opened the scoring on five minutes at Goodison Park to spark a tumultuous passage of play, with Alex Iwobi’s header seven minutes later restoring Everton’s advantage after Romain Saiss had drawn the visitors level.

Silva’s side refused to accept their lot when Raul Jimenez equalised with 15 minutes remaining.

And it was Richarlison who ensured all three points remained on Merseyside when he met Lucas Digne’s splendid delivery with a precision header across Rui Patricio.

Goalkeeper Patricio athletically denied Richarlison a hat-trick, as the 22-year-old ran Wolves ragged.

For Richarlison, who reported back late for pre-season after helping his country win this summer’s Copa America, it capped a productive week following his opening goal of the campaign in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup success at Lincoln City.

“Richarlison scored two very important goals for us and he will keep improving in our offensive moments,” said Silva.

“He is a fantastic player and a fantastic boy. How he works not just with the ball, but his work without the ball.

“He is a good example to all our players and very good for our spirit inside the dressing room. We will keep working with him and he will keep improving.

“He is the type of player who sometimes needs good performances and goals to win more confidence.

“The way he celebrated the goal against Lincoln shows how he needs those types of moments.

“He started the [opening-day] game against Crystal Palace after just 13 days working with the team [following his post-Copa America break].

“He cannot work miracles – footballers are human also. They need time to rest and prepare. He needs time to be in the best physical condition.”

Everton were level with Wolves for only 13 minutes during an explosive encounter.

Iwobi’s header from a sumptuous Gylfi Sigurdsson delivery put the Blues in front three minutes after Saiss had equalised.

And the away side had only five minutes to savour striker Jimenez’s poacher’s header before Richarlison mustered a stunning finish, similar in execution to his effort against Lincoln four days earlier.

Silva was encouraged by the emphatic way his team responded to the body blows delivered by Saiss and Jimenez. Especially coming so soon after they’d done likewise to overcome being pegged back to 2-2 at Lincoln, where Everton also recovered from conceding in the opening 60 seconds.

“We showed a very good reaction both times Wolves scored,” added manager Silva, whose side is one point better off than at the same stage last season.

“That personality and belief is so important at the level we are playing. It was the same we showed against Lincoln. We showed our character as a team.

“It was something, in some moments, we didn’t show last season. But we showed it again against Wolves.

“We deserved the three points. We were the better team. We started the game really well – fast and clinical in some moments. One of the keys for us to be an offensive team is to have our balance – and we did this very well.

“We didn't give them the chance to make counter-attacks. The only thing I didn’t like was the two goals we conceded – we should do better in these moments.

“But we created a lot of problems for them, moved the ball fast, created good moments.

“Congratulations to the players. They showed some important things.”