Newcastle 3 Wolves 0 - Report
Wolves suffered their first away loss for more than two months as their hopes ofcracking Europe took a knock at Newcastle.
A fairly good start to the game was undone after 14 minutes when the ball fell kindly to Alexander Isak for a close-range header.
Wolves never recovered from that setback and were washed away in the pouring rain when Anthony Gordon tapped home a second.
The visitors improved in the second half but failed to find the back of the net against a Magpies side also fighting for a European place, as Tino Livramento added a late third.
Analysis
Gary O’Neil made four changes from the midweek FA Cup win over Brighton, as he returned to the 5-2-3 formation.
Nelson Semedo, Craig Dawson, Pablo Sarabia and Pedro Neto all returned to the team, as Hwang Hee-chan, Joao Gomes and Matheus Cunha missed out with injury.
Noha Lemina made the bench for the first time since his January loan move from Paris Saint-Germain, while 15-year-old academy defender Wes Okoduwa was involved in a senior squad for the first time.
As the rain hammered down in the North East, Wolves made a decent start to the game.
A strong Neto run saw him race into the box, but an excellent Fabian Schar tackle denied him.
The hosts offered a threat in behind as Gordon and Isak looked dangerous, but Jose Sa was quick off his line.
Then, on the 14th minute, Isak got his goal. Wolves were caught on the counter-attack as Gordon raced forward and played in Bruno Guimaraes, who had a shot deflected fortuitously off Craig Dawson and into the path of Isak for an easy header.
Another counter-attack moments later saw the ball fall to Dan Burn, who dragged his shot wide.
Wolves then had a big chance when Toti Gomes headed wide from a corner.
O’Neil’s side were struggling for a foothold in the game and conceded another avoidable goal saw them go 2-0 down after 33 minutes. One pass took Wolves’ midfield out of the game and Jacob Murphy’s cross saw Max Kilman leave it for Sa, but the pair got in each other’s way and gave Gordon a tap in.
Wolves wilted and entered half-time losing 2-0.
As the teams came out for the second half, O’Neil replaced Sa and Neto with Bentley and Nathan Fraser.
The first big chance of the second half came as Isak’s diving header was set to find the bottom corner until Toti stuck out a leg to turn it around the corner.
A nice Wolves counter-attack resulted in Fraser having a low shot saved, as they looked for a way back into the game. Moments later, Sarabia went close at the near post.
A better second half display then saw Jean-Ricner Bellegarde have a header saved, while Bentley made a save from Miguel Almiron to deny Newcastle a third.
Eventually they found a late third when Livramento went beyond Dawson, shrugged off a challenge from Rayan Ait-Nouri and fell over as he poked the ball beyond Bentley.
That poor goal was the last major action as Wolves fell to defeat.
Key Moments
GOAL 14 Isak heads home from close range
GOAL 33 Gordon taps in to make it 2-0
GOAL 92 Livramento pokes home
Teams
Wolves: Sa (Bentley, 45), Semedo, Kilman, Dawson, Toti (H.Bueno, 60), Ait-Nouri, Doyle, M.Lemina (Traore, 82), Sarabia, Bellegarde (Chirewa, 82), Neto (Fraser, 45).
Subs not used: S.Bueno, Doherty, Okoduwa, N.Lemina.
Newcastle: Dubravka, Trippier (Livramento, 52), Botman, Schar, Burn, Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock (Miley, 70), Murphy (Barnes, 70), Isak (Almiron, 70), Gordon.
Subs not used: Karius, Lascelles, Krafth, Hall, Anderson.
