A tightly fought game ended 1-1 at St James Park. Jamaal Lascelles fought to open the scoring in the first half but Wolverhampton Wanderers fought back to find the equaliser in the second.

Newcastle United went down to ten men in the second half but the Magpies managed to hold onto the draw that keeps them out of the relegation zone.

Story of the game

The game began at a slow pace, with Wolves taking the initiative and controlling proceedings. The hosts were happy to sit back and wait their turn for possession of the ball.

Moments after kick off, it was Newcastle who had the first chance. Joelinton was found lonely at the back post with a free kick by Sean Longstaff, unfortunately for the Magpies the header was cleared to the free kick taker but he was unable to progress the attack.

There was a concussion scare for the travelling side when Diogo Jota was involved in a heavy collision with Federico Fernández. The Portuguese winger was left on the ground holding his head but play swiftly resumed a few minutes later when the physios had given him a once over.

In the opening exchanges it was the away side that had the better of possession and that reflected in the noise coming from the fans. The home end came to life after half an hour of play when Miguel Almirón broke free and beat Romain Saïss in a foot race.

It looked harder to miss but the Paraguayan midfielder failed to hit the target and slid the ball into the side netting.

It didn't take long for the hosts to create another chance. Jota was the culprit as he softly gave the ball away on the edge of his own box. The ball found it's way out to the right hand side where it fell to Fernandez out on the wing.

In unlikely fashion, the centre half floated his cross towards the centre of the six yard box. The delivery was powerfully met by captain Jamaal Lascelles who rose above the Wolves defence to head home and open the scoring just before half time.

When the teams came out for the second half, the high intensity didn't exactly over flow from the first half of the game.

It took over ten minutes for even the first half chance to materialise. Adama Traoré found himself skipping through the Newcastle defence - all the way to the by-line. The Spaniard pulled the ball back with pace towards the middle, but the chance was headed high over the bar by Jota.

Spanish winger Traoré continued to be the main source of attack, dancing between the Newcastle tackles in an attempt to be the catalyst of the equaliser. The tricky winger fired his cross across the goal mouth but to no avail - Raúl Jiménez unable to get the final touch.

As the clock ticked on, chances for both sides were few and far between. That was until Matt Doherty found himself on the by-line and able to lift a ball into the area. An oncoming Martin Dùbravka attempted to clear the danger but his punch dropped to Jonny Otto who was able to tap the ball into a relatively empty net.

A stunned Newcastle side did their best to settle after the goal and create chances. However, things were starting to not go their way. Referee, Kevin Friend, was forced to settle things down following Joelinton's discontentment at a goal-kick decision.

The referee's attempt to calm proceedings failed when oldest of the Longstaff brothers, Sean, had to be removed from the pitch following an unnecessary dangerous challenge on Rúben Neves.

Takeaways from the game

Newcastle cling on

Following a promising first half from the Magpies, their fans will be disappointed their side allowed Wolves back into the game in the second.

The point does keep them out of the relegation zone, but a win would have lifted them above Manchester United.

Wolves still lack cutting edge

The away side managed to create 13 attempts on goal, but only a handful really testing Dúbravka in the Newcastle goal. Wolves were unable to capitalise on the hosts dropping to ten men in the second half - despite Traoré being desperate to find the winner.

This was a game Wolves will have come into with the desire of winning. Three points today would have lifted the Midlands club five places into sixth before Crystal Palace play Arsenal later in the afternoon.

 

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