Newcastle 3-0 Wolves: Much-improved Mags end winless run at St James' Park
After two and a half months without a win at St James' Park, Newcastle United secured a much-needed victory over Wolves on a soaking afternoon on Tyneside.
Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon scored first-half goals at the Gallowgate to send us into the break 2-0 up before Tino Livramento rounded off the scoring after a brilliant run in stoppage time.
It was a much-needed improvement on midweek. We didn't always dominate possession, but we found the balance in midfield to protect a previously exposed defence, our pressing was measured and our counter-attacking play was brilliant, with every goal coming from devastating breaks beyond Wolves' midfield. After weeks of chaotic displays, it was good to seem more structure and discipline to our play.
The result sees us move up to 8th in the Premier League, leapfrogging Wolves and a Brighton side who were beaten 3-0 at Fulham. West Ham went 7th thanks to a flurry of late goals at Everton, but it's been a hugely positive day for Eddie Howe, who will be delighted with the win, performance and welcome clean sheet; our first in our last 10.
Howe only made one change from our midweek win at Blackburn, seeing Sven Botman replace Jamaal Lascelles. Wolves were already without top scorers Hwang Hee Chan and Matheus Cunha, but suffered another pre-match blow as Joao Gomes - the tough-tackling midfielder nominated for Premier League player of the month for February - missed out entirely.
Wolves made a confident start, with Pedro Neto offering an early warning sign down Dan Burn's side before Fabian Schar's perfectly timed tackle stopped his dangerous burst into the box.
But, it was Newcastle who struck first, as a swift counter-attack saw Anthony Gordon carry the ball into the Wolves half and slip Bruno Guimaraes in down the left. The Brazilian's shot across goal was deflected but fell into the path of Isak, who nodded past Sa for his 15th of the season, handing us a 1-0 lead on 14 minutes.
The visitors could and should have equalised just after the 20-minute mark, as Toti headed over a big chance at the back post. Again, however, it was us who made it count, as another quick break saw Willock feed Murphy down the right. His low cross caused havoc in the Wolves box and Gordon pounced on a real mix up between Sa and Kilman, allowing him to fire high into the net, making it double figures for the season for him and 2-0 Newcastle.
We saw out the first half comfortably and were handed another boost heading into the final 45, as Wolves lost Sa and Neto to injuries. Saying that, we were dealt a blow of our own five minutes into the restart as Trippier was unable to continue after going down off the ball, allowing Tino Livramento to come on.
Back to the action, some lovely link up play between Gordon and Burn almost saw Willock make it three, as his flying header from Burn's cross was cleared off the line by Toti.
We were looking comfortable, but had Dubravka to thank after a Wolves counter ended with Nathan Fraser firing a low shot towards the far corner. The Slovakian did superbly to not only stop it, but palm it wide enough to make sure no old Gold shirt tapped in. Moments later, Tuesday's shootout hero made another important stop to deny Sarabia's back post effort.
Howe then made a timely triple change, seeing Barnes, Miley and Almiron replace Isak, Willock and Murphy, giving us another wave of energy and some fresh legs to hurt Wolves on the break.
We had been slightly sloppy in possession in the second half, but our endeavour was always there to win ball back, summed up by Gordon's recovery run seconds after a misplaced pass.
Bruno then produced a moment of brilliance as his dinked pass after a Maradona spin found Miggy at the back post, only for Bentley to block his effort.
Wolves had a few half chances, but we tracked runners, got bodies behind the ball, made a few crucial blocks and saw Dubrabka claim a stoppage time corner to make sure of the three points a deserved clean sheet. That wasn't the end of the action, however, as Livramento latched onto Schar's lovely pass, carried the ball into the box and poked the ball over the line to become our 20th goalscorer of the season!
Bruno was back to his best in patches, Willock offered our midfield a totally new dynamic it's sorely missed, Burn did little wrong despite one early scare, Botman was rock solid after his shocker last weekend, Schar was a joy to watch at times and Gordon was a constant thorn in their side, doing so much good work on and off the ball. Everyone played their part, with Howe's subs and tweaked set up also making all the difference.
3-0 Newcastle and a goal for the Leazes End to enjoy, putting the cherry on top of a near-perfect afternoon at St James' Park. Next up, a trip to Chelsea - who drew 2-2 at Brentford today - a week on Monday
STARTING XI: Dubravka - Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn - Longstaff, Bruno, Willock - Murphy, Isak, Gordon.
SUBS: Karius, Lascelles, Barnes, Krafth, Hall, Livramento, Almiron, Anderson, Miley.
