Match report
If the penalty was questionable, the result was fair. Newcastle showed so much intent from the start, with both their passing and their pressing. “They’re playing that well, they don’t have to worry about relegation,” says Jamie Carragher. “They look like a mid-table Premier League club.” As compliments go, that may be an understatement: in the table since New Year’s Day, Newcastle are now fifth, between the two Manchester clubs, with seven wins from 12 games.
Our match report is in, from Louise Taylor at St James’ Park, so that’s it from me. Thanks for your company, correspondence and shrewd suggestions for rule changes. See you tomorrow for a spot of Clockwatch.
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Eddie Howe is giving an interview. On Wood: “It’s massive for him. I was pleased he stepped up.”
On Guimaraes: “He’s going to be the mainstay of the team for sure. I thought he was excellent, I’m really excited about what he can do for the team.”
On the style of play: “We’ve still got work to do... There will be a different Newcastle I hope, in the future, but at the moment we have to play a certain way to get a result.”
On the fans: “The crowd really helped us today. The relationship to the supporters is everything. The ground is in the centre of the city, everyone lives and breathes Newcastle, and we have to repay that support with hard work and passion and a willingness to run.”
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Wolves stay eighth and pay a high price for a passive first half. Their slender chance of making the top four has surely evaporated. When they turned up, they played quite well, but their best player, Pedro Neto, was only on the field for a quarter of an hour.
“When I’m allowed to change the rules of football,” says Sam Campbell, “that would no longer be a penalty. A free shot at goal is far too great a reward/punishment when the attacking player has no intention of getting the ball under control and just kicks it anywhere knowing they will be fouled. An indirect free kick would be awarded instead. I am full of great ideas if FIFA are reading this.”
The Newcastle players are doing a lap of honour, or perhaps relief, as the crowd belt out Hey Jude. They are now 14th, ten points clear of the drop zone.
The goalscorer, Chris Wood, is missing the fun because he’s giving an interview. “It’s absolutely fantastic,” he says of his first home goal for Newcastle. “We want the club to go to the next level,” he adds. Offered more than one chance to say that they’re now safe, he politely declines. “But it’s a nice position to be in.”
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The man of the match is Bruno Guimaraes. “He was everywhere,” says Don Goodman, who chose him.
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Full time: Newcastle 1-0 Wolves
One last Wolves attack fizzles out in a goal kick, and that really is that. Newcastle’s players and coaches hug each other like men who know that they’re out of the woods, thanks to Chris Wood.
90+4 min: Howe plays his final card, replacing Saint-Maximin with Murphy, and that is surely that.
90+3 min: Neto curls a cross in, only to see Dubravka grab it out of the air. Lage is remonstrating with his players, wondering why none of them were on the end of that, but it was clearly marked Keeper’s Ball.
90+1 min: Neto’s been so good since he came on, all neat feet and sharp angles, that you wonder why he didn’t appear earlier.
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90 min: There will be four more minutes.
89 min: Joelinton has a blast and it’s a good one, but Sa saves it.
88 min: Eddie Howe makes a change too, sending Sean Longstaff on for Guimaraes, who takes a little of the shine off a silky display with some blatant time-wasting.
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86 min: Lage makes his final change as Marcal comes off to be replaced by Ait-Nouri.
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85 min: You wait 80 minutes for a shot on target by Wolves and then two come at once. This one is by Jonny, who manages more precision than power as he has a go from just outside the box.
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83 min: Chem Campbell, by the way, is a Welsh winger making his Premier League debut. Like Cundle, who’s still on the field, he is only 19.
82 min: That was Wolves’ first shot on target.
80 min: A save from Dubravka! From a fine shot by Silva, drilled hard and low after he did well to swivel on the edge of the box.
79 min: Bruno Lage throws the dice, sending on Neto and Campbell for Hwang and Trincao. Neto instantly conspires with Marcal, who puts in a handsome cross, headed wide by Silva.
77 min: As it stands, Newcastle are 14th, above Brentford and only behind Brighton on goal difference. But they do have a habit of conceding late goals.
75 min: Close! Wood plays a fine lay-off to Saint-Maximin, who finds Guimaraes. He has to sort his feet out, which gives Moutinho time to get back and deflect the shot for a corner.
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73 min: Wood hit it hard and high, not into the corner but Sa had gone the wrong way. It’s rough justice, Newcastle’s reward for being the better team in the first half.
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GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Wolves (Wood 72)
A good pen, and a huge roar!
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Yes, it's a penalty.
It wasn’t offside.
Penalty!? To Newcastle
Sa comes out, Wood goes down – but the ball was already heading out for a goal kick. The ref had no hesitation...They’re checking for offside.
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66 min: Saint-Maximin is having a bizarre game. I’m beginning to suspect that a friend said to him earlier, “Bet you can’t get in 20 good positions against Wolves and not score from one of them.”
64 min: Another chance for Saint-Maximin, who has one job: to keep the ball down. And blasts it over the bar. Then he bursts into the box again, and crosses – so hard that Wood can’t get the tap-in he is after.
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62 min: These 17 minutes have offered more entertainment than the whole of the first half. It does make a difference when both sides want to play football.
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59 min: Newcastle go back to plan A: long ball from Shelvey, run from Almiron, shot by Saint-Maximin. Unfortunately it’s on his left foot.
Newcastle then have a minute of sustained pressure, but again the final ball is a poor one, and again it’s Saint-Maximin. Meanwhile Schar is down after a clash of heads, but he’s getting to his feet.
57 min: Hot on the heels of the first corner, we have the first booking, as Schar fouls Fabio Silva. From the free kick, Moutinho gets away down the left and sends in a classy volleyed cross... which nobody can get on the end of.
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55 min: Hwang, who had an anonymous first half, goes on a. great run, starting on the halfway line, ending up with twists and turns in the box. As if remembering which game he’s playing in, he doesn’t manage much of a shot, but still, we now have a proper contest.
52 min: And now Burn has a chance! Another Newcastle free kick, another Wood flick-on, and this time there’s someone on the end of it as Burn gets his shot on target, saved by Sa.
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51 min: Wolves are at least showing more intent now. They get into the Newcastle box, where Dan Burn puts in a good firm header.
49 min: We have a corner! The first of the night. It’s won by Wolves, and wasted by them too.
48 min: Saint-Maximin bursts into the final third, but the resulting cross is a tame one. Newcastle come again, get another cross in – same result.
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46 min: Wolves win a free kick in their own half, launch the ball forward for once – and send it straight out.
They’re replaying the goal that wasn’t. It was Guimaraes who was ruled offside, in the inside-right channel, as Almiron (I think) slipped him a cool backheel. Guimaraes’ neat cross bobbled off a defender and fell kindly for Wood, who did well to hook the ball in from a horizontal position. But the VAR wasn’t wrong: it was offside, narrowly but clearly.
Guimaraes collects a consolation prize as Jamie Carragher says he’s been the best player on the field. For me, Newcastle have done well as a team, outplaying a side seven places above them with the simple desire to win the ball and propel it forwards.
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Half-time! Newcastle 0-0 Wolves
The free kick, taken by Schar himself, goes into the wall, which rather sums up the half. Newcastle have passed purposefully and shot poorly; Wolves have passed sideways and shot hardly at all. Things can only get better.
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45+3 min: The half threatens to end as it began, with Wolves playing comfy passes in their own half, but then Schar presses high and wins a free kick.
45 min: There will be three added minutes. It could have been more, but the ref may be a little bored.
44 min: Almiron bursts into the box but ... you can guess the rest. Then Wolves go up the other end as Otto plays a lovely switch to Hwang, but ... you get the picture.
“Evening Tim,” says Stephen Carr. “This isn’t a great watch is it? The most notable moment was watching Jonjo Shelvey running. It was like watching a bag a treacle fall down a flight of stairs.”
42 min: Newcastle win a free kick 35 yards out. Targett sends it onto the head of Wood, who gets a flick-on, but there’s nobody busting a gut to get on the end of it.
39 min: Luke Cundle, in the Wolves midfield, is buzzing around like Emil Smith Rowe, with his socks down – but playing it very safe with the ball.
38 min: Another fine move from Newcastle as Targett and Joelinton exchange classy passes down the left. They’re going to kick themselves if they don’t make all this pressure tell.
35 min: It’s been a game of two dimensions – Wolves playing horizontally, Newcastle vertically.
32 min: “Backwards, sidewards, that’s what I’m seeing,” says a commentator, about Wolves. That’s what I’m seeing too.
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30 min: A Sky caption informs us that Newcastle have played 14 games against teams in the top half of the table and won not one of them. The questions is, does it count if a top-half team play so cautiously that they might as well be in the bottom half?
28 min: Newcastle, spurred by Krafth on the right, string together a lovely sequence of first-time passes. When the music stops, the parcel is in the hands of Saint-Maximin, whose shot is a tame one, curling wide.
26 min: The non-goal stirs Wolves into action, sending them upfield, where Jonny has their first shot of the night – over the bar.
No goal! Newcastle 0-0 Wolves
The ref is sent to the monitor, and we all know what that means.
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Goal!? Newcastle 1-0 Wolves (Wood 24)
It’s pinball in the box, and Chris Wood is on the floor – but putting the ball in the net! The VAR is looking at it for offside, not against Wood...
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21 min: Two more of those long balls from Newcastle – one to Saint-Maximin, the other to Almiron – and you’ve guessed it, no end product.
17 min: Krafth, at right-back, is doing a fine impression of Kieran Trippier. He bustles into the box and delivers a low cross, but again there’s no shot to show for it.
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15 min: Newcastle make it into the box with a long curling ball from Shelvey to Wood, but they can’t make anything of it. So far, they’ve been all possession and no trousers.
13 min: Another man down! It’s Joao Moutinho, who gets a boot in the armpit. He seems to be OK.
11 min: Fabio Silva does well to win a 50-50 on the halfway line, and it feels as if Wolves are going to spring forward, but the next pass is a sloppy one, straight out of play.
Fraser is down again and he’s walking off, to be replaced by Miguel Almiron.
9 min: Ryan Fraser goes down with an injury off the ball and gets some attention from the physio. To my untrained eye, it looks like a hamstring.
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8 min: Newcastle are getting more of the ball now, with Wolves sitting back, waiting for the moment to counter. When Newcastle win a free kick and bunt the ball into the box, Wolves clear comfortably.
6 min: José Sá is rudely awakened by a long diagonal cross from Matt Targett and a lung-busting run from Chris Wood. Sa greets the ball with a punch, and it’s a very punchy one.
4 min: Wolves’ turn to press as Shelvey dawdles in midfield. Their first attack ends with a long ball that sails out for a goal kick.
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2 min: Wolves have most of the early possession, but they hardly get out of their own half as Newcastle press.
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The players take the field, and the knee.
As Hey Jude rings out, a camera goes into the tunnel. The guy who catches the eye is José Sá – leaning against the wall, so relaxed that he’s almost asleep.
Look away now if you’re saving England’s World Cup qualifier in North Macedonia for later. Spoiler alert: the Lionesses are tucking in. Follow our MBM here with Sarah Riddell.
Wolves, by the way, also have to play the big two. Their fixture list is much like Newcastle’s, except with one game fewer, and one date still to be decided – the game against Man City that now won’t be happening next weekend.
In full: Burnley (a), Brighton (h), Chelsea (a), Norwich (h), City (h), Liverpool (a).
Lage expecting a tough night
“Hard,” says Bruno Lage, when asked what sort of game he’s expecting. “Newcastle is a hard team to play against, especially since January, new manager, new players. I watched their last two games and they were very good.”
And yes, he is including the 5-1 defeat at Spurs. “Don’t care about the result, [I just care] about the performance.”
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An email! From the tireless Peter Oh. “Your ‘two for Wolves too’ post gave me a strange flashback,” he says, “to the 1987 film Teen Wolf Too.
“Speaking of teen wolves, I see that the young whippersnapper Luke Cundle is in the visitors’ starting lineup.” He is – making, I think, his second league start, following the rip-roaring win at Spurs in February. He’s making the most of his teens, which come to an end on 26 April.
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How squeaky is your bum?
Newcastle are seven points above the bottom three. Jamie Carragher thinks they’re safe, but Eddie Howe is not so sure. “For me, there’s still a threat of relegation,” he says. “And I’m sure the players have the same mentality as I have – I’ve been trying to drum that into them. We have to finish the job, and we’ve got a tough run of fixtures at the end of the season. It’s vital that we get something tonight and change the momentum.”
Those fixtures are an interesting mix, ranging from three of the current top five to two of the bottom three. In full: Leicester (h), Palace (h), Norwich (a), Liverpool (h), Man City (a), Arsenal (h), Burnley (a).
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... and two for Wolves too
Bruno Lage also makes two changes, leaving out Dendoncker and Podence and bringing in Luke Cundle and Hee-Chan Hwang, who scored both Wolves’ goals in the 2-1 win in the reverse fixture.
Wolverhampton Wanderers (possible 3-4-3): Sa; Boly, Coady, Kilman; Jonny, Cundle, Moutinho, Marcal; Trincao, Fabio Silva, Hwang.
Subs: Ruddy, Alt-Nouri, Mosquera, Semedo, Toti, Saiss, Campbell, Neto, Chiquinho.
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Teams: two changes for Newcastle ...
Eddie Howe can’t have been too furious with the XI that lost at Spurs because he’s kept faith with nine of them. He is without Joe Willock, so he brings in Bruno Guimaraes in midfield, and he also replaces Javier Manquillo with Emil Krafth at right-back.
Newcastle (possible 4-3-3): Dubravka; Krafth, Burn, Schar, Targett; Guimaraes, Shelvey, Joelinton; Fraser, Wood, Saint-Maximin.
Subs: Darlow, Dummett, Lascelles, Manquillo, Ritchie, Murphy, Longstaff, Almiron, Gayle.
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Preamble
Evening everyone and welcome to the first match of a fascinating Premier League weekend. Whether it’ll be a fascinating match remains to be seen. But it’s a Friday night in Newcastle, so a lot of people will be making a lot of noise while wearing not a lot of clothes. And both these clubs have plenty to play for.
Wolves, after a wobble, are back among the contenders for the Europa This or the Europa That. In the Premier League table of the past month they stand third, trailing Spurs and Liverpool only on goal difference. And that’s despite having to manage without Raul Jimenez and Ruben Neves.
Newcastle come into this game from the other direction – the doldrums. After enjoying a big new-manager bounce under Eddie Howe, they’ve gone and lost their last three games, culminating in a 5-1 drubbing at Spurs last weekend. But all those defeats happened on the road. This is their chance to show their own fans that they haven’t wound the clocks back to last autumn.
Kick-off is at 8pm, and I’ll be back soon after 7 with the teams.
