Newcastle United played hosts to Wolverhampton Wanderers at St. James’ Park earlier tonight looking to continue their recent resurgence in the Premier League. The away side began the match on the front foot and took the lead in the 17th minute through Diogo Jota’s finish from close range. However, the Magpies found a way back into the game just six minutes later courtesy of Ayoze Perez’s well-placed header. Both teams fought hard and went into the half-time with nothing to split them.
Rafael Benitez’s men suffered a significant blow in the 57th minute when DeAndre Yedlin was given his marching orders for dragging down Jota who was clear through on goal. The Tyneside outfit showed a lot of heart to defend valiantly, but the West Midlands side was not to be denied as they grabbed the winner in the dying embers of the game through Matt Doherty’s header to claim all three points from this contest.
Let’s take a look at how each Wolves player performed during the match against the Magpies.
GK: Rui Patrício – 7/10
The Portuguese goalkeeper was always on his toes and pulled off a few good saves when called into action. However, he was thoroughly beaten by Perez’s well-directed header.
CB: Ryan Bennett – 6/10
He performed his defensive duties well and was not afraid to get stuck in when required.
CB: Conor Coady – 6/10
The Wolves skipper made a few errors during the game and was entirely dominated by Salomon Rondon in the first half. However, he did enough in the second half to keep the Magpies attackers at bay.
CB: Willy Boly – 7/10
He won a lot of headers during the game at both ends of the pitch and was a real asset for the away team.
RM: Matt Doherty – 8.5/10
The Wolves full-back was a fantastic outlet down the right flank and was always looking to get into the Magpies penalty area. His late run into the box presented him with a fantastic chance at the death when he made no mistake with his header to hand his team maximum points from this encounter.
CM: Romain Saiss – 5.5/10
He couldn’t get himself going in midfield and was substituted at the half-hour mark.
CM: Rúben Neves – 7/10
The Portuguese midfielder made some great challenges defensively and was always looking to create chances going forward. Some of his crosses into the opposition box was of a high quality which should please Nuno Espirito Santo.
LM: Ruben Vinagre – 6/10
Not the best performance from the Wolves youngster. He was full of energy but lacked the cutting edge in the attacking end of the pitch.
RS: Hélder Costa – 7/10
He worked hard for Wolves and kept himself busy during the match. His fantastic cross from the right touchline found Jota in the first half who made no mistake from close range.
ST: Adama Traore – 5/10
He showed signs of promise early on but was wasteful with his opportunities. Traore got subbed in the second half with Raul Jimenez replacing him up top.
LS: Diogo Jota – 9/10
The Portuguese forward was Wolves’ best threat in the opposition half. He was direct with his runs and took his first half chance well to convert from close range. He made a late run into the Magpies box which was followed by a shot that was narrowly saved by the Newcastle keeper, but Doherty was there to score the winner from the rebound.
Substitutes:
ST: Raul Jimenez – 7.5/10
The Mexican forward came off the bench and held the ball up well for the away side. He was a real handful for the Magpies defenders and added a lot of quality up top.
CM: Morgan Gibbs-White – 6/10
The youngster came on to provide some fresh legs in midfield.
CM: Joao Moutinho – 6/10
The Portuguese midfielder was brought on for the final quarter of the match as Wolves pushed on in search of a winner.
