So that’s us – enjoy the rest of your weekend. Ta-ra.
And here’s Louise Taylor’s match report.
How Wolves go about improving is tricky because they have such a settled side; where do they find better players, if they already have, more or less, players as good as they can afford and attract?
We’re nearly done here, so you should beetle over to Liverpool-Chelsea with Rob Smyth, here.
Newcastle should have enough to stay up because they’ll shade enough home games, but they need to find a way of supporting Joelinton, whether it’s getting full-backs into the box, having the wide attackers play narrower or asking for third man runs from midfield. Wolves, meanwhile, need to start games better, and should have a proper go for the Europa League.
Full-time: Newcastle United 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Newcastle took the lead after finding a few minutes of first-half pressure, but Wolves were much the better side in the second and well worth their equaliser. Wolves move up 11th, while Newcastle stay 17th, the only team in the league who’ve not scored more than once in any game this season.
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90+6 min VAR is checking for a potential pull on Doherty inside the box. There is one, I’d say, but not enough to persuade the ref - or, more importantly, me - that anything needs to be done about it.
90+5 min Moutinho lofts another ball into the box and Saiss flicks on; Traore catches up with it on the line, but when he goes to do whatever he’s going to do next, he can’t sort his feet out so trips over them instead.
90+3 min Vinagre breaks through centrefield and Gayle yanks him by the arm but can’t abort his run – he’ll be booked when the ball goes dead, I’d expect. But Wolves keep it moving and Jimenez prompts outside the box, finds Neves, then hares into it to catch up with a pass over the top, somehow sliding into a cross that Doherty heads just wide.
90+2 min Alan Smith gives Traore his man of the match award, and that seems fair enough to me. He’s been the most consistently threatening attacker and was instrumental in his team’s equaliser.
91 min There’ll be five additional minutes, and with those changes we can only assume Bruace wants Newcastle to use them seeking a win.
90 min Two more changes for Newcastle, Longstaff M – who’s been quiet – and Saint-Maximin replaced by Atsu and Gayle.
89 min Since they came up, no side has scored more injury-time goals than Wolves, and they’re doing their best to find another. Neto finds Vinagre, who diddles Yedlin and stands up a cross, but can’t pick out a man.
88 min ...which Willems heads away.
87 min Wolves are pushing for the win, Neto taking the ball 25 yards out and lashing a shot which is deflected behind. Moutinho, who’s been quiet, will take the corner...
85 min Immediately, Vinagre gets the ball down the left and hangs up a cross for Doherty at the far post. He heads down, into Lascelles and behind.
84 min Change apiece, Vinagre replacing Jonny then Jon Joeshelvey replacing Joelinton.
82 min SEAN LONGSTAFF IS SENT OFF! A STRAIGHT RED!
That is harsh. He slides in, shins the ball away from Neves, and ploughs through Neves in the follow-through. He got enough on the ball to avoid punishment, I’d say – it wasn’t in Neves’ possession butn there to be won - but I can see why the ref thought differently.
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80 min Nice from Newcastle, Yedlin dashing down the right and winning a corner off Jonny when his cross is deflected behind, but the ref determines to the contrary. Steve Bruce finds the whole thing hilarious, slapping his thigh and kissing the fourth official.
78 min Newcastle have been a little better the last few minutes, but the more they look for a winner the more they’re likely to get nobbled on the break.
76 min Willems finds all sorts of space outside the box so lines up a shot that flies through Dendoncker’s legs and only just wide.
74 min Saint-Maximin nips outside Neves, who pulls him back and is booked.
73 min “I dunno why a team playing Thursday-Sunday should be more tired than a team playing Weds-Saturday,” tweets Chris Eastside. “It’s the same number of days.”
It is, but if the body is used to a certain thing, then it is, and if the brain is then it certainly is. I also guess the travelling and lack of home comfort makes is draining.
GOAL! Newcastle United 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Jonny 71)
That was coming. Neto does really well, playing into Traore, who cleverly snaps a reverse-ball back into his path. The cross is duly dinked into the middle, Dubravka flaps for no reason, and Jonny is on-hand to drive home from close range. Newcastle need to change something here, else they’ll concede again.
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71 min “I smashed my front teeth when giving a drunken piggy-back to a lord’s daughter,” says Stuart Fore Proudlock. “At least the drink numbed the pain.”
70 min Change for Wolves, Neto replacing Jota. He’s had a decent second half, so I guess Nuno has decided it’s not his day and to rest him for the next game.
69 min Almiron nips away from Saiss, who chops him down. Booking.
69 min Wolves’ wide players are doing pretty well this half. Perhaps they might take a risk and sling on another striker to give them another target.
67 min “I fell down a cave 28 years ago yesterday,” tweets @FredLeopard. “I was unlucky enough to hit my chin on a rock to snap both top front, chip all four bottom incisors and rip my lip to shreds.”
*Makes diving motion*
66 min Jimenez is too quick for Lascelles who, already committed to the challenge, introduces studs to metatarsus. He’s booked.
64 min Wolves are into this now! Jota takes a pass off Jonny and squeezes inside Clark, the ball clipping his heels and taking it away from Longstaff S. Jota then hovers into the box and with options to his right, opts to swivel into a shot back the other way, Dubravka fumbling then collecting.
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63 min It’s a fair while since Newcastle mustered an attack of note.
61 min Traore looks most likely to make the difference and again he gets to the line, roasting Willems in the process and moving along it before crossing low into Dubravka’s ankle.
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61 min Ok, go on: what’s the most stupid way you’ve injured teeth, or yourself? I smashed a perfect arch into my front pair when bending down behind someone to trip them up and the shover shoved before I was ready.
60 min We’ve all been there.
🇬🇷 | Een Griekse tragedie: Konstantinos Mitroglou vs. Pantelis Hatzidiakos.#psvaz https://t.co/Xh5AltJfE8 pic.twitter.com/TEUrxXv1CG
— FOX Sports (@FOXSportsnl) October 27, 2019
58 min Wolves are coming! Jonny comes off the line and finds Jimenez dropping off, who clips a lovely pass into the box to meet the run of Doherty, coming from the opposite side. He can’t make an angle for a shot, though, so digs one out that goes straight to Dubrakva.
57 min Better from Wolves, Dendoncker finding Traore, who clips towards Jota at the near post - his decision-making and execution has improved so much - but his man almost ducks under the ball, heading high from a very decent position.
55 min Traore glides inside, and before Longstaff M can upend him, Clark scythes through him. He’s booked, and Longstaff S again evades a booking though he booted the ball away.
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55 min Saint-Maximin bounces away from Neves, who can’t even grab a handful of shirt, then goes at Dendoncker on the outside before running out of pitch.
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52 min Jimenez bousts down the left so Longstaff S shoves him hard in the back and away he sprawls. The ref has a quiet one, but keeps his cards to himself.
50 min Saint-Maximin skates away from Jota out on the right touchline, veers into the box, and attacks Saiss on the outside; he slides in expertly to send the ball behind. There’s a quick check for a penalty, but that was a proper tackle.
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49 min But here they come again, Willems misplacing a pass that allows Traore to barrel to the line. A little nudge does enough to put him off, his cross deflected behind, and the eventuating corner comes to nowt.
48 min But here’s Traore down the right, winning a throw deep inside the Newcastle half that they can’t parlay into anything more. so the passing continues until Neves sells Jimenez short.
46 min I wonder if that first half performance is an unfortunate by-product of Wolves’ style: they tend to play pretty slowly, probing for openings, so when they’re a bit tired or not at it, the lost crispness doesn’t leave them with much because theirs is not a high-energy style able to compensate. That or they just played rubbish, definitely one of the two.
46 min Off we go again.
The players are back with us, no bruises visible on any of the Wolves players are far as I can see.
Half-time entertainment:
Half-time: Newcastle United 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Three minutes of mild pressure were enough to deliver the opening goal of a dull first half. Newcastle have looked the more incisive, but Wolves produced an excellent second-half comeback in midweek, so will know they are capable of improvement. See you in 10 or so.
45+2 min Wolves win a free-kick down the left which Moutinho dinks in. Jota does really well to control on the half-volley and half-turn, spinning to shoot low, straight at Dubravka.
45 min There’ll be two added minutes, which is odd because I’m sure Jota was down for three. I’d much prefer the authorities had sorted the time-keeping – the ball is in play too little and time-wasting is too annoying – that foisted VAR upon us.
44 min
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC ⚫️⚪️
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 27, 2019
The Toon capitalise on their pressure as Lascelles nods home a delicious Fernandez cross.
📺 Watch on Sky Sports Premier League
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📲 Download the @SkySports app! pic.twitter.com/3ix0FHVQKx
43 min By the looks of things, half the ground have gone for a bevvy. Meanwhile, Saint-Maximin crosses from the left and the ball reaches Almiron. Longstaff S tells him exactly where he wants it, but the pace is all wrong so by the time he shoots there after defenders right up in his business.
41 min “I went to school with a kid named Joe Linton,” emails Mac Millings. “Can anybody beat that? Yeah, me, because I also went out with a girl called Fern Andinho.”
Obviously Steve Bruce calls him “Big Joe” – Joelinton that it, not Fernandinho. My favourite contraction of that ilk is Sam Allardyce calling Tal Ben Haim “Ben”, “Ben” meaning “Son of” in Hebrew.
39 min It’s too much to say that was coming, but a few minutes of pressure are what brought it about.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Wolves (Lascelles 37)
Jota has the ball close to his own by-line but gets wide looking to pass when he just needs to clear. So Longstaff picks up the pieces and crosses to the back post where, up with Joelinton, Saiss does brilliantly to head away. But Fernandez turns up on the right wing to sling over a luscious cross, which Lascelles butts home from close range.
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35 min Little flurry from Newcastle earns a corner, which Longstaff S boots straight to the man on the near post. He gets another go though, so goes short, and Newcastle keep Wolves pinned...
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34 min Lovely from Longstaff M, who controls a loose ball then controls a lope over the top for Almiron! He screeches after it, but his second touch is heavy, allowing Rui Patricio to narrow the angle and force the prod into the side-netting. He can’t dream a goal.
33 min Newcastle win a free-kick down the left, which Longstaff curls towards the far post, but it doesn’t have the pace Joelinton needs to attack it.
32 min “Bit like the batteries controlling them are running flat at the moment!” says Louise Taylor, at SJP for your super, soaraway Guardian. “Atmosphere here v low key...”
30 min Wolves win a corner down the right ... which Fernandez heads clear. Wolves have another shy at crossing, and when this one goes away they tear forward in numbers! Almiron streaks away, assesses his options, then picks none of them. Of course he does, or doesn’t.
29 min I wonder if Newcastle might move Longstaff S further forward. Currently, Longstaff M is having more of the ball, but it’s when his older brother gets on it that we wonder if something might possibly perhaps maybe happen.
28 min My days what a riff that is – any more for any more? Pulp have lasted by far the best of the Britpop bands.
27 min This game is taking place in slowmotion.
25 min Obviously I could take him if I had to, but does Adama Traore have the biggest biceps in the Premeer League? And do they not make a shirt to fit them, or is the tightness an aesthetic and aerodynamic preference?
23 min Jimenez turns up on the right and Longstaff M challenges, then feeds his brother a nasty little short pass at pace ... but one deft touch allows him to sling a long ball down the right for Yedlin. He then finds Almiron, who crosses for Joelinton, but Coady does well to intercept, heading away from danger. Champagne football, by the standard.
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21 min Jota nashes down the left, Lascelles in pursuit, and he nips in front well before jockeying to see the ball out. He falls, but the ref gives him a free-kick.
19 min Jota comes right back on and Saint-Maximin robs him immediately, dashing towards the box and leathering a low shot directly into Saiss’ shins.
17 min Jota is down after taking a bang on the bonce when Fernandez zoned right through him. It was a right sair yin, shoulder, chest and entire corporeality introducing him directly to the grass – there’s a long pause because I have briefly been possessed by the ghost of Harold Pinter at long last football is now doing the right thing.
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15 min I had my first proper night out in Newcastle. It was 1993, I was 14, and wore a petrol-blue suit because when I’d seen footballers going out in the various comics I read, that was how they dressed. I looked the absolute business, I can tell you.
13 min A nice chip from Doherty sends Traore off - he times his run well - and stands up a nasty-looking cross that Fernandez has to attack in the knowledge that Jimenez is clattering him while he’s in the process. He copes with it well.
11 min This has been a flat start from Newcastle, and the crowd are quiet too - you can hear the shouts of the players on the telly.
10 min In comes the corner and Dubravka’s clearing punch is poor, but eventually his team-mates see the ball away.
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9 min Jimenez finds space dropping off, not for the first time - one of the brothers will need to watch that - and spreads left to Jonny, whose low cross is humped behind.
8 min Matty Longstaff looks like one of those kids who enjoys taking beats, and can do a minute of deodorant sprayed directly onto the arm, without flinching.
6 min It is too facile to call Sean Longstaff Michael Carrick with legs? Their upright style and sharp passing is extremely similar.
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4 min Bit of possession from Newcastle, orchestrated by Sean Longstaff. He finds such clever angles, and a slipped reverse-pass to Almiron wins his team a free-kick, down the right. He clips it in himself and Joelinton nods back across, but Pooralmiron can’t connect properly with his shot.
3 min I’d never really noticed the majesty of Steve Bruce’s hairline, but it’s a very fine job.
2 min Nice from Wolves, the ball zipping between Jota, Moutinho and Traore, whose cross is partially cleared before Jota hooks – or hookes, in local dialect – a shot straight at Dubravka.
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1 min Matty Longstaff sticks in a heed as Jota leaps with studs; of course he does. But it’s Jota who comes away with the ball and Wolves knock it about nicely.
1 min Off we go!
Newcastle might fancy themselves to get involved early, while Wolves run Thursday night out of their legs. They played really well in the second half of that one, but expended far more effort than they’d have hoped.
Apprentice music rings out – here come the teams!
I wonder how the teams will go about this one as both like to sit back. Wolves might struggle to pick Newcastle apart, and might need to send more men forward than usual to cause problems. Newcastle, I think, will sit back but look to attack in numbers when the opportunity presents itself.
Steve Bruce reckons good results are helpful and that Wolves are good. He says his team have had a difficult start, but it’s games like today’s that can define the season.
Nuno, meanwhile, says being without Boly is a “big blow” and he’s waiting for the assessment and hoping for the best. He thinks Newcastle are a good team, and his players need to be focused and stick with their plans. I feel extremely revelated.
“In addition to listing the head referee these days,” emails JR in Illinois, “you should probably also list the VAR referee. As we’ve seen already this weekend the use of VAR is still extremely VARiable. The VAR ref is capable of all sorts and could eff up a game as easily as not. Anyway, today’s man behind the screen is Graham Scott.
On a separate note, do you ever worry about Jimenez? I do. I think he’s a great player but I’m worried Nuno is going to break him. It seems like Jimenez plays every single game, and with Europa League participation that seems pretty brutal. Has he even had any rest this season?”
I have so little patience for VAR, which fails to solve a problem which doesn’t exist. Who fell in love with the game on account of its correct decision-making process? Which self-respecting – ok, non-self-respecting – adult experiences anger about a football match more than 15 minutes after it’s finished? As for Jimenez, I guess once Cutrone finds his feet, assuming he finds his feet, Nuno will feel able to take him out.
In other black and white news, I enjoyed this.
Amazing choreos are practically the norm at Eintracht Frnakfurt’s European home games, and the game vs. Liege was no different.
— Felix Tamsut (@ftamsut) October 25, 2019
This choreo, though, deserves some proper explaining.
On ultras, pop culture, the city of Frankfurt and anti racism.
Buckle up... #SGE (Thread, 1/15) pic.twitter.com/7IEfCy7bGn
Question: is there a difference in pronunciation between “howay” and “haway”, or just in stripe-colour?
I cannot enjoy enough of these.
Things to which I’m looking forward (2): Adama Traore. We can’t know quite how Nuno has transformed him. It might be lots of detailed direction, with charts, diagrams, videos and such; it might be a pointed comment here and a kind word there; it might be the player reaching maturity; or it might be a combination of all three. Whatever the answer, he is now a serious threat in every game, and is only going to get better. Well done him.
Things to which I’m looking forward (1): the brothers Longstaff. Neves and Moutinho are as clever a pair as any, and playing them must be extremely frustrating. Running power is definitely an advantage when it comes to negating them, but nous and chill are necessary too. I wonder if we’ll see Sean try and take them out of the game by hitting long passes into the channels for Joelinton, Almiron and Saint-Maximin.
Newcastle make one change from their last game – and the one before that: Fabian Schar is injured, so Federioc Fernandez comes in. Andy Carroll is also injured, ctrl C, ctrl V.
As for Wolves, Willy Boly hurt himself in training – badly, say the rumours – so his place in that famous back three goes to Matt Doherty. As such, Leander Dendoncker comes into midfield, with Jota for Cutrone the other change from their last league game.
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Teams!
Newcastle United (a deliberately stodgy, affirmingly Spangeordie 3-4-3): Dubravka; Fernandez, Lascelles, Clark; Yedlin, Longstaff M, Longstaff S, Willems; Almiron, Joelinton, Saint-Maximin. Subs: Darlow, Krafth, Dummett, Shelvey, Atsu, Gayle, Muto.
Wolverhampton Wanderers (an ideologue’s 3-5-2): Rui Patricio; Doherty, Coady, Saiss; Traore, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Neves, Jonny; Jimenez, Jota. Subs: Vallejo, Pedro Neto, Cutrone, Ruddy, Ruben Vinagre, Kilman, Ashley-Seal.
Var’s straight man: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)
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Preamble
In his epochal treatise on modern football, On Liberty, John Stuart Mill popularised the phrase “tyranny of the majority”. Roughly, his point was that most people are wrong about most things most of the time – though of course he made an exception for Mike Ashely – before going on to predict that Steve Bruce would do some decent work in his management career and that a few bad results at the start of a season would not mean that Wolves had “been found out”.
Of course, at Newcastle, all Bruce had to do was copy Rafael Benitez – it just took him a while to put his ego away, as it would as us all, and now he has things have improved. Wolves meanwhile, have not “been found out” because there is no “finding out” to be done. How they play should be obvious and why it works should be obvious; they were good last season because, as even Mill knew in 1859, football doesn’t change: decent players, well managed, will make for a decent team.
It’s hard to see much in the way of speed or goals today, but such is utilitarianism, or something.
Kick-off: 2pm GMT, baby.
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