Louise Taylor has filed her match report, so I’m going to wrap things up. Thanks for your company and emails – goodnight.
Post-match reaction
Kieran Trippier
It’s a nice feeling to get the win. The past few weeks have been difficult for us players to take. We know how important today was for us - Alex was back in the side, and he played unbelievable.
[On the Wolves goal] It was poor from me really. We’ve got great togetherness in the squad, and my teammates picked me up when I needed it. That’s what team sport’s all about, and I’m thankfully to Miggy for putting the ball in the net.
Alexander Isak
[Did you feel ike you were approaching your best today?] Yeah yeah yeah yeah. I’ve been wanting to play more, but that’s given me a bit of fuel so I was happy to start today and happy that we got the three points as well.
I’ve had to be patient but I’ve been working hard – the team have been playing well but we haven’t got the results. Today was all about winning. [How good was Trippier’s ball for the goal?] Yeah yeah, I was happy to have him as my assist man today! He has a great right foot, and it was a good header as well.
The substitute Miguel Almiron settled an entertaining game that had plenty of incident and a bit of controversy. Nick Pope should have been given away a penalty and been sent off for a foul on Raul Jimenez in the first half, but the VAR team had a big Sunday lunch and who can blame a fellow for drifting off after a surfeit of roast potatoes?
The game was defined by managerial changes, before and during. Alexander Isak, who replaced Callum Wilson in the Newcastle XI, scored the opening goal and ran Wolves ragged at times.
Hwang Hee-chan equalised for Wolves within seconds of coming off the bench, but then Julen Lopetegui switched to three centre-backs and surrendered much of the initiative. A few minutes later, Almiron scored the winner for Newcastle.
Full time: Newcastle 2-1 Wolves
Peep peep! A crucial win for Newcastle, their first in the league in two months, moves them above Liverpool into fifth place.
90+5 min One last corner for Wolves…
90+4 min: Great chance for Botman! It should be all over. Almiron takes a short corner, then runs onto a brilliant flick from Guimaraes and into the area. He gets to the byline and cuts the ball back to Botman, who wafts over from eight yards.
90+2 min Bruno Guimaraes does superbly to win the ball off Ait-Nouri and then wait for the inevitable foul as Ait-Nouri tries to regain possession.
90 min There will be five minutes of added time. Newcastle continue to manage the game very well.
87 min You never know in football – see Romania 2-1 England, 1998 – but it feels like Newcastle have got this covered. They’ve been energised by the goal and are dominating more than at any stage in the second half.
85 min: Newcastle substitution Matt Ritchie replaces Jacob Murphy.
84 min Now it’s Newcastle who are controlling the game, keeping Wolves pinned back. Wolves haven’t been the same since Julen Lopetegui switched to three centre-backs. Has anyone?
Updated
83 min “I was surprised to see, when I looked at the table, that Wolves are only three points from the drop zone,” says Kári Tulinius. “A draw would be psychologically crucial, I think, they wouldn’t have more than a single win’s worth of cushion.”
On that note, who coined the phrase ‘dop zone’, and should we hunt them down?
80 min That might go down as an own goal by Kilman, as I’m not sure certain Almiron’s shot was on target. We haven’t seen a definitive angle though.
Updated
This is a huge goal for Newcastle, celebrated wildly by the scorer. He owes a big thank you to Willock, who was surrounded on the edge of the Wolves area but calmly made space to angle a pass through to the unmarked Almiron on the right side of the area. He took a touch and sidefooted a shot across goal that deflected off the stretching Kilman and flew past Sa at the near post.
𝗠𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗬𝗬𝗬𝗬𝗬𝗬𝗬! ⚫⚪
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 12, 2023
Newcastle are back in front 💪 pic.twitter.com/DnpYZu1PhQ
Updated
GOAL! Newcastle 2-1 Wolves (Almiron 79)
Miguel Almiron’s St James’ Park goal drought is over!
Updated
78 min “You could see that equaliser coming,” says Chris Paraskevas. “Naive of Howe and his team to think they could see it out, given how fragile our form has been. Big ask to get a winner now, given Wilson’s struggles after ticking the World Cup off his career bucket list. If anything I think Wolves could sneak this (they beat Millwall 2-0 that day in London...circa 2013).”
The contrast in approach with the last really good Newcastle teams, under Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson, is fascinating.
77 min At the moment, Wolves look the likelier winners, and there’s a nervous atmosphere around St James’ Park.
74 min: Wolves substitution Nathan Collins replaces Joao Moutinho, which means a switch to five at the back.
74 min Although the manner of the goal was unfortunate, Newcastle have been punished for sitting on a one-goal lead. They were too passive from the start of the second half.
73 min Newcastle appeal for a penalty when Schar goes over in the area after a slight shove from Jimenez. No dice.
71 min Trippier has had a fantastic game, so that was a cruel twist.
It was a messy goal, not that Wolves will care. Hwang was pulled back on the edge of the D but the referee played a good advantage. He forced the ball into the area, where Trippier slipped while attempting to clear. In doing so he took the ball away from Pope and gave an open goal to Hwang, who couldn’t believe his luck.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-1 Wolves (Hwang 70)
Hwang equalises within seconds of coming on!
Updated
69 min: Triple Wolves substitution Hwang Hee-chan, Matheus Nunes and Rayan Ait-Nouri replace Daniel Podence, Ruben Neves and Jonny.
68 min: Double substitution for Newcastle Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron replace Alexander Isak, who was outstanding, and Allan Saint-Maximin.
Isak was booked for something or other just before leaving the field.
67 min I think there’s a medical emergency in the crowd but the match is continuing. A couple of Newcastle corners come to nothing.
64 min: Good save from Pope! Pedro Neto uses the overlapping Semedo by not using him and waves an outside-of-the-boot cross towards the far post. The backpedalling Trippier can only head it as far as Moutinho, who cracks an instant volley towards the bottom corner. Pope gets down really smartly to his right to push it away; that’s his best save of the game.
Updated
64 min Wolves have had 72 per cent of the possession since half-time.
63 min Pedro Neto has produced a few really classy touches since coming on at half-time. Meanwhile, Podence’s corner is cleared only as far as Neves on the edge of the area. He takes a touch, which takes him slightly away from goal, and then welts the bouncing ball into orbit.
60 min Semedo’s dangerous cross is headed behind by Trippier, under pressure from Neves at the far post. Good defending.
59 min Trippier decides to go for goal from the free-kick, an audacious attempt that is pushed away to his left by Sa. It was a comfortable enough save in the end.
58 min: Good save from Pope! The ball is touched off for Neto, whose fierce rising drive is beaten away well by Pope.
Newcastle break and Murphy is taken out by Semedo, who is booked. The home crowd wanted a red card. Semedo was the last man, but Murphy was going slightly away from goal and I suspect Lemina would have got back.
57 min Podence tricks Guimaraes on the edge of the D and is fouled, giving Wolves a decent opportunity. The free-kick is slightly to the right of centre, with Moutinho and Neto over the ball.
55 min Another buccaneering run from Isak ends when he stumbles over on the edge of the area. Wolves break through Podence, who gets to within 25 yards of the Newcastle goal before being beautifully dispossessed by Schar.
Newcastle counter the counter, and Willock smashes a shot from a tight angle that is beaten away by Jose Sa.
54 min Wolves are having more of the ball, but they’re not really threatening. As Jamie Carragher says on Sky Sports, it’s hard to reconcile Wolves’ scoring record with the quality of their attacking players: Podence, Jimenez, Neto, Moutinho and Neves all know how to treat a football.
52 min Newcastle have already had four 1-0 wins at home this season. Given their recent form, they’d bite your face off for another.
Updated
49 min Isak wins the ball back high up the field, then implores the crowd to make more noise. He’s been terrific today, with and particularly without the ball.
48 min Neves turns smartly, 25 yards from goal, but then slices a shot well wide of the far post.
46 min Peep peep! Wolves begin the second half, having made a substitution in attack: Pedro Neto replaces Adama Traore.
Updated
The more you see that Pope challenge on Jimenez 20 min), the clearer it becomes: penalty, red card, the end.
I shouldn’t complain, because Pope is in my fantasy team and I need every point I can get if I’m to hold off Sean Ingle and retain the Guardian Sport League title, but come on.
Oh VAR, so much to answer for.
Updated
Ruben Neves was late to leave the field at half-time, having collided with his old mate Dan Burn just before the whistle. I think he’s okay.
Half-time reading
Half time: Newcastle 1-0 Wolves
Newcastle lead through Alexander Isak’s accomplished header. They have been the better team, no doubt, but Wolves will have one or two grievances. The goal came from a debatable free-kick, while Nick Pope might have conceded a penalty (and been sent off) after being robbed by Raul Jimenez in the area.
45 min “I think,” says Tony Rutt (see 38 min), “I’d probably outgrown the shirt by 1969.”
44 min Podence is booked for fouling Murphy. I think he got the ball, but the referee decided he took a shortcut through Murphy to do so.
Updated
42 min Traore moves into the area and runs at Burn, who times his lunging tackle immaculately to concede a corner. Nothing comes of it.
41 min Isak’s goal is the only shot on target at either end, though that doesn’t reflect a decent first half – and it certainly doesn’t do justice to an exhilarating 10-15 minutes from Newcastle after the goal.
40 min It’s been a half full of debatable decisions. We’ve just seen the foul (sic) by Jimenez on Schar that led to Isak’s goal, and there’s a decent case that he won the ball fairly. There’s also a decent case that he didn’t, and these modern fences really are so snug to sit on.
39 min: Podence hits the post! Wolves almost equalise out of nothing. Neves sprayed a pass out to Podence, who cut inside from the left and whistled a low, right-footed drive from 20 yards that pinged off the outside of the near post.
Updated
39 min There might have been something in that handball appeal. It looked as if Lemina, under pressure from a Newcastle player, accidentally touched the ball with an outstretched arm. I'm not 100 per cent sure, though, and I don’t really understand the world the handball law anyway.
38 min “My first replica shirt was a Wolves one,” says Tony Rutt. “ Circa 1968, it was a hand-me-down from the nextdoor neighbours whose sons had progressively outgrown it. Other than that I have no horse in this race, but that should have been a penalty for Wolves on Pope, and a straight red for Burn after Casermiro’s this morning.”
I don’t think Burn’s was as bad as Casemiro – the point of contact was lower. That was my first impression anyway. More importantly, does the kit still fit.
36 min There was a check for a Newcastle penalty just after Bruno hit the bar, I think for a possible handball by Lemina. Either way, it wasn’t given.
35 min: Bruno hits the bar! Trippier deliberately swings a corner beyond the far post. The stretching Burn does well to force it back into the six-yard box, and Guimaraes heads the bouncing ball against the bar from five yards!
Updated
34 min A sizzling snapshot from Isak, 20 yards out, deflects behind for a corner. The last ten minutes have been pulsating.
32 min Bruno Guimaraes is fouled by Moutinho on the right wing. It’s a not dissimilar position to the goal, maybe five yards closer. Trippier puts in another wicked ball – “Beckhamesque,” coos Jamie Carragher on Sky - that hits an unsighted Newcastle player at the far post and loops into the arms of Jose Sa.
32 min Here’s that terrific header from Alexander Isak.
NEWCASTLE TAKE THE LEAD ⚫⚪
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 12, 2023
Trippier 🤝 Isak 👏 pic.twitter.com/VA3k9NMGo2
31 min Wolves are suddenly hanging on. Murphy has a shot blocked, then Saint-Maximin sits Neves down in the area and lifts a cross that is desperately headed away.
30 min Jimenez shapes a curler from 25 yards that is pushed away by Pope, falling to his left. The game is really open now. Newcastle go down the other end, where Isak charges away from Dawson and drives a shot that is crucially blocked by the stretching Kilman.
28 min Willock almost makes it two! Isak made a brilliant run down the inside-left channel, moved into the area and slid a low cross that took a couple of ricochets and led to a rare old scramble. Eventually Willock swept a shot from five yards that hit Dawson and deflected wide of the far post.
It came from a free-kick on the right, 40 yards or so from goal. Trippier curled a superb ball towards the penalty spot, where Isak moved Jonny out of the way with a gentle push in the back and then flicked a marvellous header into the far corner. That was such a precise finish.
Wolves will probably feel Jonny was fouled; the referee and VAR disagree. I don’t think it was a foul, and it certainly wasn’t a clear and obvious error.
Updated
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Wolves (Isak 26)
Newcastle score a goal, and a fine one at that.
Updated
25 min “The picture of the ‘vast expanse of St James’ Park’ sent me down a rabbit hole of stadium sizes,” says Joe Pearson. “Depending on allocation strategies, it appears more Bournemouth fans could attend a match at Old Trafford (capacity 75,000) than they could at home at Dean Court (capacity 11,000). Is this a topic for the Knowledge?”
It’s not a rabbit hole that fills me with joy, I must say, but I’m a weirdo so you might as well go for it.
24 min And after all that, play resumes with the score 0-0.
22 min Just before that Pope incident, Burn won a tackle with Neves and then followed through onto his ankle. Burn gave Neves a mouthful, which is out of order, and not the first time he’s gratuitously played the tough guy this season.
Updated
21 min I think Pope is lucky, though I don’t think it will be overturned by VAR because it probably doesn’t count as a clear and obvious error. There was contact, but you can certainly argue that the contact wasn’t sufficient to knock Jimenez over. Personally I think it was a penalty.
Updated
20 min Nick Pope had almost had another shocker! He received a backpass from Botman, took an awful touch on the left edge of the area and was robbed by Jimenez. He lifted the ball past Pope and went over, but the referee decided it wasn’t a foul by Pope. Hmm.
Updated
18 min I have a horrible feeling this isn’t going to end 4-4.
17 min Newcastle are passing the ball with a fair bit of confidence, but their tempo is a bit slow and they could probably take more risks in the final third.
15 min Trippier’s inswinging corner is headed away. Saint-Maximin loops it back into the box, and Isak flicks a header straight at Sa. It wasn’t much of a chance, about 0.04 on the old xG I’d say.
14 min It’s been a reasonable start to the match, no more or less. Newcastle are having most of the ball, and Burn has just won another corner after some good interplay on the left.
12 min Traore plays a terrific pass inside Burn towards Semedo in the area. Semedo is slightly indecisive, and that allows Burn to come back and make an important tackle. The ball ricochets off Semedo and being for a goalkick.
11 min Trippier smashes his free-kick straight into the wall. That wasn’t a great effort; he just leathered it into the pack.
Updated
10 min Schar sprays a good pass out to Saint-Maximin on the left. He slides the ball back towards the D, where Bruno Guimaraes neatly turns Moutinho and is tripped. This is a chance for Kieran Trippier…
Updated
8 min Newcastle take the corner short, and soon regret it.
7 min After good play from Newcastle on the right, Longstaff’s excellent cross is headed behind by Nelson Semedo.
6 min Kilman is robbed just outside the area on the Wolves right by Isak, but he recovers to concede a throw-in.
5 min “Good morning Rob!” writes Chris Paraskevas. “It’s about time my early rises (3:30 am here in Sydney) were rewarded with a Newcastle win. Wolves are always tricky opponents though. I remember encountering their fans in an (impossibly cramped) London bar many years ago, on the way to watch a Millwall game.
“The (impossibly large) leader of the Wolves contingent almost squared off with his Millwall equivalent and their group. Calmer heads prevailed: ‘We’ve got the kids with us, otherwise it’d be all on.’ (Paraphrasing) Gotta love away days... Howay The Lads!”
5 min Moutinho’s free-kick is punched away by Pope.
4 min Traore moseys over to the left wing and is fouled by Trippier. I say ‘fouled’; Trippier was insistent he won the ball cleanly. Either way, Wolves have a free-kick in a decent position…
2 min Murphy’s cross is dropped by Sa, who jumps onto the back of his own teammate Dawson, but he has time to claim it at the second attempt.
1 min Peep peep! Alexander Isak gets the game under way for Newcastle, who are kicking from left to right as we watch.
Here come the players. Blip or no blip, there’s a pretty good atmosphere at St James’ Park. Whatever happens from hereon in, this has already been Newcastle’s best season in about 20 years.
Match report: West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa
“With both these sides chronically short of goals, my (virtual) money is on a draw,” says Roy Everitt. “So how about 4-4?”
Sack it, let’s go the full QPR.
Match report: Man Utd 0-0 Southampton
On this day in 1994… goals were not a problem for Newcastle.
On this day in 1996…
Never forget where you’ve come here from.
Musical interlude
Match report: Fulham 0-3 Arsenal
All we are saying is…
“Teams are reaching their level of incompetence (or competence)...” says Jeff Sax. “Newcastle are not in a slump, this is their level....and they may not even win today. MU just drew against Southampton!!! Fulham, despite doing well, lost.”
Man Utd did have ten men for an hour, to be fair. I agree that Newcastle have overachieved for most of the season, but I also think they’re better than their recent form would suggest. All teams have blips.
Premier League results (2pm kick-offs)
Fulham 0-3 Arsenal
Man Utd 0-0 Southampton
West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa
I suppose that’s good news for both these teams. Newcastle could yet catch Manchester United, while Wolves will be happy when any team below them doesn’t win.
This is what it does to the league table.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 27 | 37 | 66 |
| 2 | Man City | 27 | 42 | 61 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 26 | 6 | 50 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 27 | 12 | 48 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 26 | 18 | 42 |
| 6 | Newcastle | 24 | 18 | 41 |
| 7 | Brighton | 24 | 14 | 39 |
| 8 | Fulham | 27 | 1 | 39 |
| 9 | Brentford | 25 | 7 | 38 |
| 10 | Chelsea | 26 | 1 | 37 |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 26 | -7 | 35 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 26 | -12 | 27 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | 26 | -16 | 27 |
| 14 | Nottm Forest | 26 | -26 | 26 |
| 15 | Everton | 27 | -18 | 25 |
| 16 | Leicester | 26 | -9 | 24 |
| 17 | West Ham | 26 | -10 | 24 |
| 18 | AFC Bournemouth | 26 | -26 | 24 |
| 19 | Leeds | 26 | -11 | 23 |
| 20 | Southampton | 26 | -21 | 22 |
Eddie Howe has picked a whole new forward line. Allan Saint-Maximin, Alexander Isak and Jacob Murphy replace Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson and Anthony Gordon. There are two other changes from the defeat at Manchester City last week – the fit again Joe Willock and Fabian Schar come in for Joelinton, who is suspended, and Jamaal Lascelles.
Wolves make four changes from the win over Spurs last weekend, all in attacking positions. Joao Moutinho, Daniel Podence, Adama Traore (who came off the bench to score the winner last weekend) and Raul Jimenez come in for Matheus Nunes, Pedro Neto, Pablo Sarabia and Diego Costa. It looks like Sarabia and Costa are injured.
Updated
Team news
Newcastle (4-3-3) Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Bruno, Willock; Murphy, Isak, Saint-Maximin.
Substitutes: Dubravka, Dummett, Lascelles, Targett, Manquillio, Ritchie, Almiron, Anderson, Wilson.
Wolves (4-2-3-1) Sa; Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Jonny; Neves, Lemina; Traore, Moutinho, Podence; Jimenez.
Substitutes: Bentley, Ait-Nouri, Collins, Toti, Nunes, Joao Gomes, Neto, Hwang, Cunha.
Referee Andy Madley.
Preamble
If first is first and second is nothing, is it any wonder nobody seems to fancy finishing fourth? The race for the final Champions League place is becoming a leaden-footed struggle, with Spurs, Liverpool and Newcastle all recently losing points in surprising circumstances.
Newcastle’s slump has been the most striking. Maybe striking isn’t quite the right word, as they’ve scored only three goals in the last eight Premier League games. In that time they’ve picked up only eight points, dropping from third to sixth as a result.
The good news is that, if they can clamber back on the horse sooner rather than later, a Champions League place is still within reach. Newcastle are seven points behind fourth-placed Spurs with three games in hand and a decent run of fixtures coming up.
That said, Wolves at home isn’t the home banker it might have been earlier in the season. They’ve won five of their 11 league games under Julen Lopetegui, inching their way up to 13th in the Spandex Relegation Stakes. It should be an intriguing game, but don’t expect too many goals. No Premier League team has scored fewer goals than Newcastle in 2023; no side has scored than fewer than Wolves this season.
Kick off 4.30pm
