Not even a black cat could help Everton as Wolves' hot streak in front of goal continued in a 3-1 win which strengthened their grip on seventh place.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side made it 10 goals in their last three Premier League outings as they capitalised on some generous Everton defending to extend the gap between these sides to five points.

Although Andre Gomes struck to cancel out Ruben Neves' early penalty, Raul Jimenez had the visitors back in front just before the break and Leander Dendoncker made sure in the 66th minute.

A black cat crossing in front of Wolves' goal early in the second half might have been an omen suggesting Everton could get back into it, but on the day they were clearly second best.

Wolves have now won seven of their last 11, and have a four-point cushion over eighth-placed Watford.

While the visitors celebrated, it was another frustrating afternoon for Marco Silva, whose Everton side have lost four of their last six league games.

Leighton Baines captained the side after passing a late fitness test, having been injured against Huddersfield in midweek, but his inclusion soon looked like a costly mistake.

The 34-year-old never looked comfortable and just six minutes in conceded a penalty as Matt Doherty got in front of him before being bundled over in the corner of the area.

Neves stepped up and confidently sent Pickford the wrong way to put Everton almost immediately on the back foot.

Marco Silva had warned before the match about the dangers Wolves posed on the counter-attack, and it was borne out on the pitch as Everton bossed possession but Wolves posed the threat, with Diogo Jota one decent touch away from being through on goal from Conor Coady's long ball over the top.

The danger was clear again when Kurt Zouma took a yellow card on the half-way down to deny Jimenez a run at goal.

And it needed a great save from Jordan Pickford to prevent Dendoncker making it 2-0 after 20 minutes when Tom Davies gave the ball away to Jimenez.

Rui Patricio was soon in action at the other end thanks to Everton's first decent move, with neat play from Gylfi Sigurdsson releasing Theo Walcott who was denied by the Portuguese.

However, there was nothing the goalkeeper could do three minutes later when Andre Gomes scored his first Everton goal in some style, running on to Cenk Tosun's lay-off and rifling a rising shot into the top right-hand corner.

Everton struggled to create any further chances, and instead conspired to trail at the break thanks to a needless foul from Michael Keane.

The defender tugged at Jimenez after the ball had gone to give Wolves a free-kick just outside the area, and it was all too easy as Jimenez was afforded time and space to head home Joao Moutinho's set-piece.

Everton huffed and puffed to get back into the game early in the second half, but chances remained at a premium, with Tosun almost anonymous leading the line.

Instead it was Wolves who struck to effectively end the contest in the 66th minute. Jota ran at goal before seeing his shot charged down, but the ball sat up for Dendoncker to fire into the roof of the net.

The cat soon intervened to cause a lengthy delay, but it offered no change to Everton's luck as thousands of the restless Goodison Park crowd headed for the exits long before full-time.