With that, this MBM comes to its natural end. All that’s left is for me to direct you towards Michael Walker’s match report, and to thank you for reading. Congratulations to Wolves, commiserations to Newcastle. Nighty night!
And now it’s Nuno’s turn. “It is too difficult for me to judge the red card, it was on the other side of the pitch. For me the Boly-Perez incident was a dispute for the ball. Please don’t ask me about the referee, sometimes he gives, sometimes he takes, he is always deciding on what he sees. So let’s talk about the game. It was a tough game. Everyone must perform better. But we were never distracted, stayed humble and worked hard. I am happy and proud of the boys.”
A livid Rafa Benitez speaks. “We need VAR, right now. So if you see the incidents today, we need VAR right now. It was so obvious, if you see the red card and an elbow in the face, we need VAR right now. Lascelles was close enough for it not to be a red card. I think the team was doing enough to win the game. It is so clear. This can kill your confidence.” There’s steam pouring out of his ears. He’s fuming! Did he bring any of this up with the officials after the game? “Do you think it would make any difference? No.”
Poor Newcastle. Their supporters will be feeling like this poor chap. Not least because they’ve been showing replays of the Perez-Boly clash on 82 minutes, and Boly might have got away with crumping an elbow in Perez’s face. “They don’t deserve that win,” says Perez. “The argument I got from the referee was that the ball hit my face. I was bleeding. I can’t believe it. I don’t know why it was no penalty.”
The match-winner Matt Doherty speaks: “It feels sweet coming away from home and scoring with the last kick of the game. It’s a bit special. I busted a gut to get forward and it went in. It was on a plate, I couldn’t really miss.”
So that’s now 12 games since April in which Newcastle have fallen behind, and found themselves unable to avoid defeat. They remain 15th in the Premier League table, three points (13) above Huddersfield Town in 18th. Wolves meanwhile catapult themselves into the top half: they’re 10th, level on points (22) with Leicester and just one behind Bournemouth and Everton.
FULL TIME: Newcastle United 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
There’s just enough time left for Clark to get booked for kicking the ball away in frustration ... and that’s that! Wolves win a top-flight game at Newcastle for the first time since 1959. Stan Cullis led them to the title that season. Wolves cavort, as a red-faced Benitez storms off under a black cloud of misery.
GOAL! Newcastle United 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Doherty 90+4)
Wolves win it at the death! Jota dribbles from the halfway line, down the inside left. He’s got six Newcastle players around him, but they all back off. None make a move. Jota enters the box, and sends a rising shot goalwards. Dubravka gets a brave hand to it, but can only send the ball dropping towards Doherty, who running in from the right, heads into an unguarded net from a couple of yards!
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90 min +3: The game is now in basketball mode. Ritchie crosses for Joselu. Gibbs-White nearly splits the Newcastle defence. Kenedy embarks on a rococo dribble. End-to-end at great speed.
90 min +1: Newcastle keep launching the ball clear, but Joselu is unable to retain possession. Dubravka races out of his area to head clear. Jimenez tries to return it over his head. The keeper manages to run back and clutch the ball. Almost a Pickfordian rush of blood.
90 min: There will be five added minutes.
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89 min: Atsu - who has had a decent game for Newcastle as well, and is applauded accordingly - is replaced by Kenedy.
88 min: Vinagre dances down the left and reaches the byline, but his cross is too high even for Doherty at the far post. Great field position wasted. Wolves are bossing the play now, though, the extra man finally telling. But they’ve not got much time left. Can they break Newcastle?
86 min: Joselu replaces the excellent but tiring Rondon.
85 min: Gibbs-White and Jota one-two their way down the middle of the park. Jota enters the box and looks to cut one back for his partner, but Lascelles intercepts and clears as the Newcastle support collectively breathe again.
83 min: Jimenez rises at the near post and heads the corner towards the bottom left. Dubravka is quickly down to claim.
82 min: A break in play as Perez refuses to get up. He wanted a penalty, but he’s not getting one; he tangled with Boly as the pair challenged for a high ball. Eventually Perez rises and is forced to stand on the touchline; Newcastle will be down to nine as they defend the upcoming corner.
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80 min: Bennett is booked for his 317th minor foul of the afternoon. Ritchie crosses into the Wolves box from the left; Boly and Perez challenge and fall to the floor. No foul, so Wolves break upfield at great speed. Jimenez skates down the left, then rolls the ball across the face of the Newcastle area. Gibbs-White cleverly leaves it, letting Doherty smash one towards the top left. It’s a superb effort; Dubravka tips it around the post spectacularly.
79 min: Doherty flips Jimenez into space down the right. A fizzing cross ends up at the feet of Vinagre, coming in from the other flank. He has a shot that is hacked clear easily enough by the home side.
77 min: Joao Moutinho comes on for Costa.
76 min: ... Wolves break upfield! The ball’s shuttled to Jimenez, who strides down the inside-left channel and unleashes a screamer towards goal. It rises past Dubravka, and slams onto the same crossbar that Rondon rattled in the first half! So unlucky! Newcastle clear the rebound.
75 min: Ki strokes a lovely pass down the left to release Atsu into a lot of space. Atsu wins a corner off Coady, though he should have done better with Wolves light at the back and team-mates rushing in. Ki takes the corner. From which ...
73 min: Jota is booked for hanging out a leg and bringing down Perez. There’s been an edge to this match alright.
72 min: Gibbs-White, dropping deep, slips a delightful pass down the inside-right channel. What vision! Vision that’s been sorely lacking from Wolves today. He nearly releases Doherty, but Clark reads the danger. Then Coady is booked for clattering into Rondon as Newcastle try to break quickly up the other end.
70 min: Some head tennis on the edge of the Wolves box. Nobody can get the ball under control. Finally Ritchie comes in at speed, boot high, and concedes a free kick to release the pressure on Wolves. You wouldn’t guess Newcastle were down to ten men right now; they’re giving as good as they’re getting.
68 min: Atsu tries to round Bennett down the left, and clatters into the Wolves defender. The crowd demand punishment, but it’s nothing more than a free kick in the midfield. A lot of simmering going on in Newcastle right now.
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67 min: Diame crosses from the right. The ball balloons off Doherty and falls to Coady, who heads clear in very poor fashion. Perez chests down on the edge of the box, but flashes his shot well over the bar.
66 min: Costa is booked for a tug on Atsu.
65 min: Newcastle are certainly up against it now. They’ve only scored three second-half goals all season, when playing with 11 men. But then Wolves haven’t scored more than one goal in a game away from home. It’s going to be an interesting last quarter.
63 min: A free kick for Newcastle out on the right. Ki launches it long, and it surprises Lascelles at the far post. Half a chance, that.
62 min: Gibbs-White is immediately in the action, taking a corner from the left. Doherty rises highest, above his marker Manquillo, but heads weakly over the bar. Meanwhile in the dugouts, Benitez continues to seethe. He’s just performed the VAR mime out of impotent frustration. Not yet, Rafa, not yet.
60 min: Wolves make a double change: Saiss and Traore are replaced by Jimenez and excitement’s Gibbs-White.
58 min: Jota’s free kick, just to the left of the D, is no good. On the touchline, Benitez is dancing around in the wild fashion. He’s clearly of the opinion that Lascelles was definitely going to get across, in which case Yedlin wasn’t the last man. But Jota was always going to get a shot away. It looked the correct decision.
RED CARD! Yedlin (Newcastle)
57 min: Yedlin gets the ball snagged under his feet as he looks to turn backwards down the right flank. Jota whisks away with it and races towards the box. Yedlin brings him down, and though Lascelles is coming across to help, out comes the red card! Rafa Benitez is not happy with that decision. Not happy at all.
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55 min: A powerful run by Diame down the right. He finds Rondon, just outside the box in the centre. But Rondon can’t sort out his feet to get a shot away.
53 min: Costa bustles down the right. He’s running out of space, but Clark obliges him by needlessly shoving him over. A free kick as good as a corner. It’s sent long, Boly attempting to guide the ball home at the far stick. Goal kick. This second half’s been a bit scrappy so far.
51 min: The free kick is a nonsense.
50 min: Clark and Ritchie probe down the left. Clark is eventually brought down by Traore. It’s a clear free kick, though Traore isn’t too pleased, as he was cynically shoved by Lascelles a few seconds earlier as he romped up the other end, only for the ref to wave play on.
48 min: Injury update: Fernandez has a calf injury. So it wasn’t a tactical change. Yedlin has dropped into Newcastle’s back three, with Manquillo taking his place out on the right.
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46 min: Atsu dribbles down the left. His run is brought to an abrupt end by Doherty. Free kick. Ki takes, and it’s not very good. But a fast start to the half from the home side.
And we’re off again! Wolves - who were sent back out onto the field early by Nuno - get the ball rolling once more. Newcastle have made a change, hooking Fernandez and replacing him with Manquillo.
Half-time reading:
HALF TIME: Newcastle United 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Nothing happens at the corner. Ritchie has another go at worrying Wolves, flinging in a cross from the left. But Coady heads clear, and the teams are going in level. Well, that was fun. Don’t go anywhere, now!
45 min: So having said that, Diame latches onto a loose Wolves pass and cracks a rising shot goalwards. It deflects out of play to the left of the target, and so Newcastle will have a corner in the one minute that’ll be added onto the end of the half.
44 min: A free kick for Wolves out on the left. Neves takes, and curls a harmless one into Dubravka’s arms. This has been a highly entertaining half of football, but it’s petering out a little bit.
43 min: Jota runs with purpose down the middle of the park. He thinks about a shot, but slips the ball wide left to Vinagre instead. Bad choice, because Vinagre’s cross is easily hacked clear. Jota had the chance to work Dubravka.
41 min: Wolves ping it around for the first time in a while. They don’t go anywhere in particular, but they’ve been second best since taking the lead, so a period of relative control will be most welcome.
39 min: Rondon is having a superb game. A study in perpetual motion. Here he closes down Rui Patricio, forcing the keeper to shank a pass out of play. It leads to nothing, but the home crowd appreciate his efforts anyway.
37 min: Doherty turns on the jets and bursts through a gap in the Newcastle defence down the inside-right channel. Before he can get a shot away, Ritchie is across to slide the ball out for a corner. A perfectly timed tackle; it had to be. From the resulting corner, Bennett heads harmlessly over the bar.
35 min: A bit of space for Ritchie down the left. But he runs down a cul-de-sac.
33 min: There’s not a lot of this game being played in the middle of the park. Delightful. Doherty cynically clips Atsu’s heel as the Newcastle man makes good down the left. A free kick in a very dangerous position. But it’s wasted, Ki hoicking it miles over everyone’s head and out for a goal kick, with all the big lads up, their time and energy wasted.
31 min: Ritchie sends Atsu scampering down the left. Atsu hooks immediately into the centre, slamming the ball into Rondon’s chest. But Rondon can’t control and the ball flies out for a goal kick.
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30 min: Boly clatters into the back of Diame, and concedes a cheap free kick, 30 yards out on the right. Everyone’s lined up on the edge of the box. Ki sends one deep and long to Fernandez, who aims a header towards the bottom left. Not enough oomph. Rui Patricio claims.
28 min: Perez very nearly releases Yedlin down the right. Coady does extremely well to intercept the pass. Then the ball breaks to Ki, who drops a shoulder and shapes to shoot from 25 yards. He’s closed down. This is high-octane entertainment.
26 min: Rondon is up for this. He wins a ball 30 yards from the Wolves goal and threads a shot towards the bottom left. Not quite enough juice on it, allowing Rui Patricio to gather. This is a great match.
25 min: From the corner, Rondon wins a header in the box, but it’s an easy one for Rui Patricio to gather.
24 min: Newcastle suddenly look a different team, piling forward in the excitable style. Football, huh? A corner’s won out on the right.
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GOAL! Newcastle United 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Perez 22)
Rondon pearls a sensational free kick towards the top left. It’s beaten Rui Patricio all ends up, but bangs the underside of the bar and bounces down, an inch in front of the line, and away. So unlucky! But Rondon isn’t stopping to feel sorry for himself. Wolves only half clear, and Rondon whips in a cross from the right, which Perez eyebrows adroitly into the top left! Rui Patricio had no chance with either effort, and Newcastle are deservedly level!
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22 min: Newcastle have lost the last 11 matches in which they’ve fallen behind. Can they put an end to that dismal run? Well, here’s a chance to get back into this match. Perez spins Bennett to the left of the Wolves D and shapes to shoot. He’s brought down. Rondon fancies it. He stands over it, and ...
20 min: Newcastle are suddenly rocking in a very worrying fashion. Traore bursts down the left, his low cross only just evading Jota. Dubravka just about deals with the situation.
18 min: Ki is booked for bringing down Traore.
GOAL! Newcastle United 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Jota 17)
Well this was simple. Costa sashays in from the right. His looped cross sails over Lascelles, on his own in the middle of the box and out of position. Jota brings down the cross and pokes past Dubravka, simple as that. Dreadful defending.
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16 min: Mike Ashley isn’t in the house today, incidentally. He’s abroad on business. On that subject, here’s Mac Millings: “While I understand the decision to call off today’s scheduled anti-Ashley action, I nevertheless long for the good old days, when Newcastle United fans really knew how to put together an ‘Ashley Out’ banner.”
14 min: Atsu whips a cross in from the left. Rondon winds his neck back with a view to blasting a header goalwards. Boly is forced to flick out for a corner. The set piece finds Atsu on the edge of the area; his first-time shot is wild, wide and high.
13 min: Neves opts to go straight for goal instead of looking for a team-mate’s head. His curler towards the bottom left is easily snaffled by Dubravka.
12 min: Traore skitters down the inside-left channel, and is clumsily barged to the ground by Fernandez. This is a free kick just to the left of the Newcastle box, so very dangerous. Neves stands over it, with the box loaded.
10 min: Fernandez passes long down the middle. Rondon brings the ball down, teeing up Perez on the edge of the box. Perez can’t quite get his shot away either, but Newcastle are beginning to give Wolves a problem under direct bombardment.
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9 min: A really poor clearance by Vinagre allows Diame to take a whack from 25 yards. His shot is blocked. He should have done better.
8 min: ... no, nothing much happens at that one either. Here’s Kári Tulinius. “A friend of mine has the theory that Wolves are crap against teams notionally at their level or below, while being good against top-six opposition. The theory being that Wolves need space and teams not being set up to counter their strengths. Given that Rafa is a master of reactive tactics, this game should be a good test of that theory.”
7 min: ... nothing much occurs. But then Doherty bombs down the right and earns another corner, this time from the right. And from that one ...
6 min: Traore spins his way past Fernandez and dribbles down the inside-left channel. For a second it looks as though he’ll get a shot away, but makes do with a corner. From which ...
4 min: Wolves hog the ball for a while, probing down both wings. Bennett flings one in from the right this time; once again Newcastle hold firm and clear without fuss.
2 min: Bennett throws long into the Newcastle area from the left, but Lascelles powers a header away. Already a sense that both teams fancy this one.
And we’re off! Newcastle get the ball rolling under the lights at St James’. And the home side are quickly moving forward, Yedlin bursting down the right, Diame hooking into the centre, and Rondon chesting down, sending a volley straight at Rui Patricio. Let’s keep going like this, please, everyone!
Here come the teams! It’s one for the purists, Newcastle in their famous black and white stripes, Wolves in that storied old gold. Two gorgeous strips. A quick blast of the theme from Local Hero, and we’ll be off in a minute!
Rafa speaks! “The fans realise the main thing is to support the team. The way they support the team from the first minute until the last has been crucial for us in the last couple of years, and hopefully will be crucial for us this year. We know Wolves are quite strong and solid in defence, and are good in counter attack. So we have to try to stay on the front foot, but not make the mistakes we made against West Ham. We will try to match them, and see if we can be a little bit better than them!”
Nuno Espirito Santo talks! “The way we work as a team, compact and organised, we have to maintain standards. This is one of the things we must improve, to become consistent. We must play and reveal our talent, maintaining our high standards. It was an intense game on Wednesday, and this will be a difficult game too.”
Look at this little scamp! A dog wearing Newcastle colours, pictured pacing the streets outside St James’ Park before the match. Isn’t he a sweetheart? I hope they let him in. After all, he’s almost certainly better house-trained than Newcastle’s notorious fireplace-bothering owner.
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Pre-match reading. Our main man Daniel Taylor on the fallout of the cancellation of the anti-Ashley protest.
Newcastle make three changes to the side that drew with Everton midweek. Ciaran Clark, Matt Ritchie and Ayoze Perez replace Jacob Murphy, Javier Manquillo and the suspended Fabian Schar.
Wolves make three changes to the team that saw off Chelsea on Wednesday night. Ruben Neves, Adama Traore and Helder Costa replace Joao Moutinho, 18-year-old prodigy Morgan Gibbs-White and Raul Jimenez, all of whom drop to the bench.
The teams
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Yedlin, Fernandez, Lascelles, Clark, Ritchie, Atsu, Diame, Ki, Perez, Rondon.
Subs: Dummett, Muto, Kenedy, Manquillo, Joselu, Longstaff, Woodman.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Rui Patricio, Bennett, Coady, Boly, Doherty, Neves, Saiss, Ruben Vinagre, Helder Costa, Traore, Jota.
Subs: Ivan Cavaleiro, Jimenez, Gibbs-White, John Ruddy, Joao Moutinho, Dendoncker, Leo Bonatini.
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).
Preamble
This particular fixture has, in days gone by, ended 5-1, 2-4, 3-4, 4-4 and 8-0. How relevant is that? Well, those games were played in 1975, 1903, 1959, 1960 and 1905, so we’ll leave that up to you. But what we will say is this: today’s match is unlikely to be quite so spectacular. Newcastle have only scored 12 goals in 15 matches this season; Wolves have managed just three more. You’ll thank me for tempting fate so brazenly when this ends 5-5.
To be fair, though, we can spin this another way. Newcastle are in a pretty decent run of form, having won three of their last five. They’re coming off the back of a very decent draw at fast-improving Everton. A three-goal thumping at home by West Ham distorts the picture, but on the whole they’ve been doing well of late. Wolves meanwhile broke a six-game winless streak in midweek with a stunning victory over Chelsea. So both teams will feel confident enough. And confidence means goals, right? You’ll curse me for mentioning all this when it ends 0-0.
Either way, there’s much to play for this afternoon. A win for Newcastle will take them further away from the relegation places; victory for Wolves will catapult them into the top half. It could be a tense affair. Or a goalfest. It’s on!
Kick off: 4pm.
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