Newcastle reignite European hopes with convincing win over Wolves

Eddie Howe's side had endured a frustrating two-and-a-half months since beating Fulham at St James' Park in mid-December.

Sat, 02 Mar, 2024 - 17:12

Jason Mellor

Newcastle 3 Wolves 0

IT'S been a long time coming but Newcastle finally returned to winning ways at St James' Park to maintain their hopes of clinching a return to Europe next season.

Eddie Howe's side had endured a frustrating two-and-a-half months since beating Fulham here in mid-December, but first-half goals from Alexander Isak, the Swede's 15th of the season, and Anthony Gordon before a stoppage-time third from substitute Tino Livramento helped to seal a comfortable victory against a strangely under-par Wolves.

The victory was accompanied by a rare clean sheet, Newcastle looking altogether more solid after eschewing their trademark high press for a rather lower block.

Given their stretched resources due to a crippling injury list for most of the campaign, it's a more conservative approach they perhaps ought to have adopted weeks ago.

It provided the platform to seal a routine victory, one which enabled them to leap-frog their vanquished opponents as they climbed to eighth, in the thick of the race for a place in the Europa Conference.

For any Newcastle fan of an ultra-pessimistic nature, the win also means they reached the 40-point safety mark.

The only downside of an otherwise satisfactory afternoon's work was the sight of Kieran Trippier trudging off early in the second-half with what looked to be a calf problem.

The Newcastle skipper will have a scan this week to assess the extent of the damage which curtailed his involvement.

Howe's side sealed the three points in a 20-minute spell midway through the first-half as Isak broke the deadlock with a simple six-yard header from a deflected Bruno Guimares shot to round off a searing break from the edge of Newcastle's penalty area launched by defender Fabian Schar.

The second in the 33rd minute came from similarly close range, Gordon mopping up at the far post for his 10th goal of the season after keeper Jose Sa and defender Max Kilman collided in their attempts to deal with a Jacob Murphy cross.

The visitors provided at best a sporadic threat in their efforts to get back into a disappointingly one-sided contest as Gary O'Neil's side tamely surrendered a six-game unbeaten away record.

Martin Dubravka dealt comfortably with a low shot from substitute Nathan Fraser and a Pablo Sarabia effort from a diminishing angle in the rare moments of danger Wolves could muster, before substitute Livramento added a late third, poking home from inside the six-yard box after meeting a pass from the outstanding Schar.

Newcastle (4-3-3): Dubravka 8; Trippier 7 (Livramento 52, 8), Schar 8, Botman 7, Burn 7; Longstaff 6, Guimaraes 7, Willock 7 (Miley 70, 6); Murphy 7 (Almiron 70, 5), Isak 8 (Barnes 70, 6), Gordon 8.

Wolves (3-4-2-1): Sa 4 (Bentley 46, 5); Kilman 4, Dawson 4, Gomes 5 (Bueno 60, 5); Semedo 5, Lemina 4 (Traore 81, 5), Doyle 4, Ait-Nouri 4; Sarabia 4, Bellegarde 4 (Chirewa 81, 5); Neto 5 (Fraser 46, 6).

Referee: Tim Robinson