Everton fell to a 3-0 Premier League defeat in a difficult afternoon at Molineux against Wolves. 

The hosts grabbed the game's first goal in the 25th minute when Max Kilman reacted quickest from a scramble in the Everton six-yard box to poke the ball into Jordan Pickford's net. Matheus Cunha doubled Wolves' advantage 10 minutes into the second half before Craig Dawson added a third with a little less than 30 minutes remaining. 

For the contest, Sean Dyche made two changes from the side who lined up against Manchester City on Wednesday night with Andre Gomes and Beto dropping to the bench in place of Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. 

The changes brought a slight tweak to the shape, with Keane joining Jarrad Branthwaite and captain James Tarkowski to form a three-man defence, while Nathan Patterson and Vitalii Mykolenko were deployed as wing-backs.

In what was a steady start at Molineux, the game's first chance of note fell the home side's way as the game approached the 10th minute when Wolves found themselves in a favourable three-against-one on the break from a Blues' corner. 

Patterson did a solid job of slowing the attack down before the ball was played into Hwang's feet inside the Everton box. He dribbled around Pickford but was eventually tackled by Onana who did an excellent job of sprinting back to recover before the the Blues' defensive unit was able to get back into shape and clear the threat. 

Wolves went close again a few minutes later when Cunha found some space deep inside the Everton half to fire a low curling strike that whisked just wide of Pickford's left post. 

But the home side's early pressure eventually delivered the opener in the 25th minute. Wolves maintained pressure from a corner and delivered a menacing low cross across goal, a fine point-blank Pickford save from a Branthwaite touch initially kept Wolves out but Kilman reacted quickest in the resulting scramble to poke to ball home. 

The Blues nearly managed an immediate response when McNeil drove at the Wolves defence before sliding Calvert-Lewin in, however, the forward wasn't able to find the target from a tight angle and his effort flashed across the goal. 

Everton looked to have had a great chance to draw level as the game entered first-half stoppage time when Onana played a beautiful pass through the Wolves defence that split them wide open, Calvert-Lewin ran onto the ball and attempted to round Jose Sa but the goalkeeper was able to smother the attempt - the offside flag was raised immediately after. 

The Blues made a much brighter start to the second half and were quick to put the Wolves defence under some early pressure, however, they failed to convert it into any meaningful efforts on goal and were punished 10 minutes into the second period. 

Hwang received the ball too easily in behind the Everton defence and from inside the penalty area, he cut the ball across the box where Cunha was able to beat both Patterson and Tarkowski at the back post to smash home from close range. 

Wolves nearly added a third when a mix-up between Keane and Tarkowski at the back allowed Hwang to profit. The two got in each other's way from an attempted clearance allowing the Wolves attacker to drive into the Everton box and fire a powerful strike that Pickford tipped onto the post. 

The hosts did get their third, though, just after the hour mark when Dawson flicked a leg out at a low Cunha cross, directing it into Pickford's bottom right corner. 

Seamus Coleman and Gomes were introduced in place of Keane and Patterson by Dyche in search of a route back into the game. The changes nearly had the desired impact when Gomes played a ball into Calvert-Lewin who then laid it off to McNeil - the winger hit a vicious strike onto the top of Sa's left post. 

Hwang, a constant thorn in Everton's side, nearly added a fourth as the gamer entered the final 20 minutes. He was denied in a one-against-one with Pickford before getting the better of the England goalkeeper soon after - his strike was eventually ruled out for offside. 

Dyche introduced Beto and Arnaut Danjuma for McNeil and Calvert-Lewin in the final 15 minutes, yet, it did little to change the momentum and instead, it was Wolves who nearly grabbed another deep into second-half stoppage time as Neto fired past Pickford who gave away the ball cheaply.

Again, however, the flag was raised for offside, sparing the Blues' blushes in an afternoon to forget. 

The Blues will aim to bounce back on Thursday 4 January when they travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace in the FA Cup (8pm kick-off).