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Season 2024-25
Wolverhampton Wanderers (a) Premier League

 


Date:
Sunday 15th September 2024, 4.30pm
Live on Sky Sports


Venue:
Molineux

Conditions: Bemusing

Programme: £4
 

Wolves

Newcastle

 

1 - 2


 

Teams

Goals

36 mins Sean Longstaff's error deep in the home half allowed Wolves the opportunity to counter and after Jorgen Strand Larsen battled past Dan Burn down the right, his cross was dummied by Joao Gomes for Mario Lemina to side-foot home. Longstaff's initial rick was costly, but neither Burn, Tino Livramento nor Fabian Schar will look back on their involvement with any fondness. 0-1

Half time: Wolves 1 Magpies 0

75 mins Joe Willock laid a ball off to Bruno Guimaraes on the edge of the box and pushed forward in expectation of receiving a reverse pass. Instead, the Newcastle captain pivoted and found the unmarked Fabian Schar to his right, almost level with the "D" of the Wolves area.

The defender took a touch then shot as Mario Lemina made a fruitless attempt to block and it took a deflection off the head of Craig Dawson, sending out of the reach of goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and deliciously into the top left hand corner of the goal at the North Bank end of the ground
.
1-1

80 mins The move began with Pope, who came out of his goal to receive a back pass then lofted it to Harvey Barnes who was just in the Wolves half on the left.

With Matt Doherty back-pedalling the winger pushed forward before swapping passes with fellow substitute Willock. With Doherty still goal side but standing off him, Harvey Barnes darted infield, avoided a half-hearted block from Larsen and made the net bulge with an inch-perfect curling effort from 25 yards. Simply glorious. 2-1

Full time: Wolves 1 Magpies 2

We Said

 

 

Eddie Howe said:

"It's a massive win for us. Away from home we have questions to answer and that is a big step forward for us.

"I wasn't totally satisfied
(at half-time) and the lads know they have to perform. We have the ability to make those changes. I have to credit the players who came on. Everyone played their part and it is a massive win.

"I got the sense
(of urgency) at the start of the half and then there was bit of a lull and Fabian's goal injected confidence. 

"It took a moment of real class from Harvey
(Barnes) and then we had cramp and all of those battling qualities at the end to get over the line.

"I think we are stepping forward in terms of our performances. I think it was a step in the right direction. 

"We can improve in lots of different aspects and that is what we are going to be working on this week. We are a really tight-knit group and we have to remain that way.

"I think it’s a great platform for us. Confidence is always the key ingredient in any sporting team, and hopefully by winning in the manner we are, that confidence level will continue to grow.

"There’s no doubting the quality of players we have, albeit that we’re small in numbers so we can’t afford to lose anybody. Winning is everything. I’ve never shied away from that as manager of Newcastle United.

"Winning is everything. The best way to do that is to be unified – that means the players, the supporters and the coaching staff and I’ll do everything to keep that unity.”

"It fell in line with other games this season. We’ve played really well in passages but not all the way through. What shines through is the ability to find a way through. We can get better but on the whole it was an improvement.”

On the half time changes:

"I’m sure there were a number of players who were disappointed not to start. We made changes to the team that played against Tottenham. They were tactical because every game is very different and I have to find what I believe is the best way to win the next game.

"It’s no reflection on the players that came out, but the most important thing is that the players respond in the right way because their best chance of playing in the next game is determined by how they perform on the pitch.

"I thought all three half-time substitutes did really, really well. I was really pleased with Sandro and Joe, and of course really pleased with Harvey, whose finish was incredible.

"I just felt we needed a different energy in the team, and I also think it’s reflective of the quality of players that we have waiting to play.

"I wanted to give them long enough to influence the game. I didn’t want to cut their time too short where they couldn’t grab the game as we needed them to.

"I was really pleased with the attitude when they came onto the pitch. The ability of the players is not in question – I thought they all made a positive difference for us.”

On Alexander Isak:

"It was his eye, but I’m not 100% sure what the issue was. I just knew he had to come off. We’ll find out more afterwards. 

"I don’t know whether it’s serious or not, but we absolutely hope not. He’s such an important player for us.

On the equaliser:

"It was what we needed. We’d had a few moments, but we hadn’t had the clear sight of goal we would have wanted.

"It was maybe going to take something like that, a long-range effort, speculative to a degree, but Fabby has the quality to score those type of unbelievable goals for a centre-half. 

"It’s another one to add to his collection, and that gave us a lift and changed the dynamic and the mood in the stadium. It was an absolutely pivotal moment in the game.”


On the winner:

“He (Harvey Barnes) had a difficult season last year, going to a new club with a big transfer fee, he picked up an innocuous injury against Sheffield United and it hurt him and us. 

"He is one of the best finishing wingers I have ever seen - quality goalscoring wingers are few and far between.”

On Nick Pope:

"I’m really pleased for Nick. Whenever a player goes away on international duty, it’s always a different dynamic.

"With the players that we keen here, we can really focus on what they’re doing and we’re in tune with their performances.

"When players go away, they miss our contact time and there’s always that trust about how they’re going to come back, but you can see how Nick has come back, and the effect he has on the team. 

"He made two or three great saves that ultimately end up helping us win the game. He’s a top-class goalkeeper and I’m delighted for him.”

They Said

Gary O'Neil said:

"I think frustration is the right word. It is easy to feel down after results but the group gave everything. They showed loads of quality and I thought we probably edged it. 

"I felt really comfortable and really dangerous. We know we are in a tough run of fixtures and playing teams that have real quality and we are being punished for every error.

"The first goal we concede is desperately unlucky and summed up where the game was heading. Schar ended up taking shots from there, it flicks off Daws and goes in. Second goal I’m really disappointed with because we speak to the full-backs about showing wingers outside all the time, literally every day since I’ve been here.

"Harvey Barnes is allowed to come inside and it's a fantastic finish, but it should never happen against us, so I’m disappointed with that. Nels (Semedo) having to come off was a big blow because he’s really important to us. We need to make sure that he can get through more of the game than he did today.

“But all that group could do is give everything, and show what they are, and you can see big moments of quality. I have no doubts that we’re going to pick up some big results if we continue to put in performances like we did today.

"The first one’s a deflection, but it can happen. We're not feeling sorry for ourselves or saying, ‘Oh, it's just one of those things’. It's not that, we had enough opportunities in the game, we hit the post at 1-0, Jorgen has a really good chance for header at 1-0.

"At one-nil I thought we looked the most likely for quite a while, and then we started to tire a little bit. We had a couple with cramp and we had to make changes and in that little spell we were punished for a couple of things that can happen at Premier League level.

"It’s a tough one to take on the chin, because a lot of me really enjoyed what the group gave today but it wasn’t enough for the fans in the end. The supporters will be frustrated at the moment, of course, because we’re in a run where it’s tough for us to win games, but they saw from the group, there was a lot of effort, a lot of quality, good understanding, even after going 2-1 down, we had a good few chances to score again.

"Lots there that stand us in good stead, but as we know, the Premier League is ruthless and we need to find a way to get some results.

"T
hat was close to being our best today. Of course, there's a few little bits that we could tidy up on, but we've gone up against a side who have spent an awful lot of money and were in the Champions League last season, and we didn't look like a lesser side.

“That takes a lot of doing against Newcastle, because there's not many teams that go out against them and just go toe-to-toe and have a real good game, and, in my opinion, looks slightly more likely to score than they do."

Stats


Newcastle remain unbeaten after their opening four Premier League games, something they last achieved in the 2022/23 campaign. Three draws and a win brought them six points that season; three wins and a draw this time gives them 10 points, which is their best return since collecting a maximum 12 points at the beginning of 1995/96.

An unbeaten five game start to the season in all competitions is United's best opening run since the 2022/23 season, when they also managed five games. They haven't improved on that since the 2011/12 campaign, when an 11 game starting sequence left them unbeaten until late October. 

The Magpies turned a half time deficit into a full time PL victory for the first time since the 4-3 home win over West Ham in March 2024. They trailed 1-2 that day. Away from SJP, this was the first HT/FT turnaround since Brentford in April 2023, turning a 0-1 interval loss into a 2-1 win.

Fabian Schar
now has 15 PL goals to his name for United, two clear of Anthony Gordon and one more than Joe Willock. He's one shy of Bruno Guimaraes. This was his fourth from outside the box.

Harvey Barnes
netted for the seventh time in the PL as a Magpie, one more than David Ginola and equal with Carl Cort, Stephen Glass, Jonas Gutierrez and Mark Viduka. Five of those seven goals have come after Barnes was introduced as a substitute.

Barnes' goal was the 50th that United have scored on visits to Wolverhampton in the league. It came in our 49th away league visit, the victory being only our eighth league win at Molineux. 

You have to go back to April 2018 for the last time Newcastle scored from outside the box more than once in a PL game, Jonjo Shelvey and Ayoze Perez doing so in a 2-1 win at Leicester City.

United have now scored at least once in each of their last 12 competitive visits to Molineux - their last blank came during the 1992/93 promotion season. 

The 19th PL meeting of these two sides at home and away saw Newcastle triumph for the sixth time; Wolves have won two and the other 11 games were drawn. Victory over Wolves at SJP next January would see the Magpies clinch their first league double against them since 1905/06.

There was a winning senior competitive debut for the maroon and blue change kit.

Mags @ Molineux - PL era:

2024/25 Won 2-1 Schar, Barnes (PL)
2023/24
Drew 2-2 Wilson 2 (1 pen) (PL)
2022/23 Drew 1-1 Saint-Maximin (PL)
2021/22 Lost 1-2 Hendrick (PL)
2020/21 Drew 1-1 Murphy (PL)
2019/20 Drew 1-1 Almiron (PL)
2018/19 Drew 1-1 Hayden (PL)
2016/17 Won 1-0 Mitrovic (Ch)
2011/12 Won 2-1 Ba, Gutierrez (PL)
2010/11 Drew 1-1 Carroll (PL)
2003/04 Drew 1-1 Shearer (PL)
2002/03 Lost 2-3 Jenas, Shearer(pen) (FAC)
2002/03 Won 2-0 LuaLua 2 (FR)
1992/93 Lost 0-1 (D1)

The treble half time substitution was the first time Newcastle have done that in a competitive game, but something increasingly commonplace during the second half during Howe's time at SJP.

The current Newcastle boss had made double replacements at half time on four separate occasions previously and introduced a quartet of substitutes together just after the hour mark in our FA Cup defeat at Manchester City in March of this year.
 

Waffle

Two spectacular second half strikes saw Newcastle wipe out a half time deficit on Sunday, preserving their unbeaten start to the season and leaving them in third behind Manchester City and Arsenal.

Fabian Schar's long shot was deflected beyond goalkeeper Sam Johnstone by Craig Dawson for a 75th minute leveller, before substitute Harvey Barnes fired home a fabulous winner five minutes later.

Nick Pope's acrobatic intervention to deny Matheus Cunha in added time then completed the comeback and gave United maximum points from another game when they failed to hit top gear.

Debuting their maroon and blue change kit, the Magpies started strongly on an overcast afternoon in the Black Country against a Wolves side with just one victory in their last 13 PL outings who looked there for the beating. 

A trio of changes to the starting line-up that scraped past Spurs before the international break saw Lewis Hall, Fabian Schar and Jacob Murphy replace Lloyd Kelly, Emil Krafth and Harvey Barnes.

Murphy was quickly into the action when his early strike was tipped over while Gordon's dazzling run from the left saw his shot glance off the far post, but a failure to turn domination into goals allowed Wolves creep into the game as we became increasingly sloppy and unimaginative in possession.

Returning from a three match ban and with no international involvement following his retirement from Switzerland, Fabian Schar looked rusty and was one of several players who sent ludicrous back passes towards Nick Pope, whose kicking hadn't improved during his time away with England.

Sean Longstaff's error deep in the home half on 36 minutes gave Gary O'Neill's side the opportunity to counter and after
Jorgen Strand Larsen battled past Dan Burn on the Wolves right, his cross was dummied by Joao Gomes for Mario Lemina to side-foot home.

A measure of how far Eddie Howe's side had lost their way came when the usually conservative manager made an unprecedented treble switch at the interval; Longstaff, Joelinton and Isak making way for Sandro Tonali, Joe Willock and Barnes.

Rather than a tactical ploy however, playing without a recognised centre forward was an enforced decision after Isak incurred a head wound when Dawson's boot accidentally caught him in the face before half time. William Osula wasn't entrusted with the task of being a like-for-like replacement.

Those changes initially stimulated United, but some loose passing encouraged the home side forward rather than holding on to their one goal lead, Larsen striking the post before coming close with another headed effort.

The 64th minute replacement of Tino Livramento by Kieran Trippier proved pivotal; his prompting from right back leading to a more cohesive approach along with the much-needed forward momentum that Tonali and Willock had brought. Some training ground attention to corners may be in order though; comedic attempts at hitting BDB aren't even worthy of the label "Plan A" on this evidence.  

Two outstanding moments turned defeat into victory as a more direct approach thankfully paid dividends, setting aside frustrations about our failure to take shots against a defence that conceded six in their last home game (albeit with a different goalkeeper). 

There may have been an element of fortune about Schar's deflected shot but the strike from Barnes was worthy of winning any game.

The latter saw him dart in from the left before making the net bulge from distance in similar style to his West Ham winner last season - also strongly reminiscent of David Ginola's 1995 beauty at Hillsborough when clad in the original maroon and blue Adidas kit.

Newcastle's final substitute saw Kelly come on at left back for the ailing Bruno Guimaraes, leaving a clearly incapacitated Lewis Hall as the furthest man forward.

Eight additional minutes were seen out though, Pope making one memorable leap to keep out a Cunha volley that was heading for the top corner. He's anything but a sweeper keeper, but his prowess at stopping goals will save us more points than his kicking will win.

At the other end meanwhile, both Tonali and Barnes had chances to make it 3-1 and spare those present supporting the visiting side from a fifth nerve-shredding finale so far this season. 

Arsenal's win at Tottenham Hotspur left them second - Newcastle's victory by a single goal not enough to take them above the Gunners.

Ten points from four ordinary performances is a very welcome total for a side yet to fire on all cylinders, although the sense of riding our luck remains - and surely cannot keep continuing.

The Champions League now takes centre stage this week for the quartet of teams around us, while Newcastle's thoughts turn to Fulham - rather more mundane than Milan but no less vital in our eyes.

There's no shame in taking advantage of the plentiful replacements now permitted to alter the course of games, but the concept of getting it right first time seems to be eluding us at present. Having watched Trippier struggle in the latter half of last season, his appearance on the field this time round has proven to be decisive, whether by his actions or his mere presence.

Like Barnes, whether our interests are best served by starting him or continuing with the impact substitution ploy is something for Howe to ponder. And Paul Mitchell, if they're speaking.  

Niall/Biffa

We're saddened to record the passing of life-long supporter Les Ridley at the age of 91. RIP.