Newcastle 1 – 1 Wolves

Newcastle earned a vital point in the relegation fight as they drew 1-1 against the Wolves, meaning they can’t fall to bottom three this weekend.

Newcastle needed a big performance in Saturday’s game and were great in the first half. Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin – who were injured during the match, along with Emil Kraft – both came close and the Wolves saw their openings before half-time.

The hosts finally found a breakthrough seven minutes after the break as Jamaal Lascelles (52) headed the ball with his head. However, after the last four league matches between Newcastle and Wolves ended in a 1-1 draw, it was no surprise when Ruben Neves also nodded (73) to see the points once again split.

That’s an important point for Newcastle, who now can’t fall among the top three ahead of Fulham’s game against Crystal Palace on Sunday, and remain in 17th place. The Wolves remain 12th on goal difference, with 34 points from Arsenal.

How Newcastle and Wolves drew again

Newcastle started well, Isaac Hayden sent an early free kick to Rui Patricio’s hands before Almiron hit the wood. He sent it down the right wing with a fine pass from Jonjo Shelvey, catching the Wolves ’defense. Almiron then slipped into the penalty area, sending the ball past the oncoming Patricia, but she bounced off the back post.

The Vukovi goalkeeper was soon in action again. Joelinton forcibly saved Patriciou’s palm and was implicated as Newcastle scored a goal excluded from offside. It was a sensational run by Saint-Maximin as he danced through the area, before setting up Joe Willock. His shot was saved by Patricio, Saint-Maximin was lurking to turn the loose ball home, but he was marked offside.

The Wolves, however, started their leg as they passed the halftime, while the returned Martin Dubravka vitally saved a little after half an hour. Neves floated with his head towards the back post, but Adame Traore’s header stopped the goalkeeper low down, turning the ball to the crossbar.

A few minutes later, Traore used his rhythm to break past Krafth from the left, crashing into the area before cutting off the ball waiting for Pedro Net at the top. However, he stretched his effort. In the first minute of the two-pass, Neto played a great ball over the goal, but Ciaran Clark vitally touched the ball and threw it away from danger.

It only took seven minutes for Newcastle to finally find the net after the break. Saint-Maximin made a good effort at breaking through on the right, but the home team’s left defense cleared the ball to a corner. However, there was only a substitution at half-time Ryan Fraser, who returned the ball into space. Then Lascelles strongly sent him home for his first goal in the Premier League since the exact same game in October 2019.

But the Wolves pushed for their equalizer and it finally arrived in the 73rd minute. Willian Jose made a great pass through the middle before knocking out Neta on the right wing. Then Neves thundered his cross in the middle and scored his first header for the Wolves.

So far, Newcastle have lost Almiron, Saint-Maximin and Krafth due to injuries, but could have snatched the late winner. Jacob Murphy chose Joelinton, while the Brazilian sought the final corner. The effort beat Patricia, but Saiss was unaware to deflect the ball over the crossbar.

But Newcastle had to defend with everything they had, as five minutes of extra time was shown after a litany of injuries. Effort choices ensued when Fabio Silva headed in from a Wolves corner, and Dubravka made a stunning defense to send the ball to the crossbar and eventually earn a point for his side.

The man of the match – Adam Traore

It was another good performance by Traore. He was a creative spark in most of the Wolves ’attacking attacks, especially in the first half, and pulled out four fouls. The first two were yellow cards for Newcastle and he still shows how dangerous he is for the Wolves.

Traore made four key passes – the most in his team – 71.4 percent of his 28 duels. While the performance may not have been perfect, Traore is a steady improvement.

Opt for statistics

• Both Newcastle and the Wolves scored in all 12 Premier League matches between the parties, making it the safest match of the competition, with neither side taking care.
• Of all the Premier League games played at least 10 times, Newcastle and Wolves recorded the highest percentage of games played with a draw (75% – 9/12). Each of the last five league matches between the parties ended 1-1.
• No team has scored a bigger share of their Premier League goals in the second half of this season than Newcastle (67% – 18/27).
• Nuno Espirito Santo took responsibility for his 102nd game in the Premier League at Wolves, overtaking Mick McCarthy (101) as the most matches in charge of the club in the competition.

What’s next?

It’s a big battle for Newcastle’s relegation next weekend as they travel to West Brom on Sunday, March 7; start 12:00. For the Wolves, they travel to Manchester City on Tuesday night before facing Aston Villa next Saturday, live on Sky Sports; start 17:30.