Wolves and Newcastle shared the spoils for the fifth consecutive Premier League game between the pair, drawing 1-1 at St James’ Park. Out of form Newcastle started the brightest and forced a series of saves from Rui Patricio early on, with the best chance falling to Joe Willock whose shot was saved before Saint-Maximin was offside when converting the rebound. Wolves improved as the half went on but failed to test the goalkeeper, Adama Traore’s header hit the outside of the post of the stroke of half time. Newcastle took the lead early in the second half through Jamal Lascelles only for Ruben Neves to score his first-ever headed goal for Wolves to level things up. Wolves looked the better as the game edged towards its conclusion and could have won it late on as Fabio Silva’s point-blank header was somehow kept out by Dubravka.
Rui Patricio
Made a series of saves early in the first half which ultimately kept Wolves in the game. Was strong in commanding his area in the second half, but still opting to punch rather than catch. He has certainly made up for any errors he made earlier in the season and seems to be back to his best. 7/10
Leander Dendoncker
A poor outing for Dendoncker who continued his place on the right of the back three. Facing the pacey Saint-Maximin, Dendoncker was often caught out of position and couldn’t deal with the wingers’ close ball control, especially inside the penalty area, which led to a number of Newcastle chances in the first period. 5/10
Conor Coady
Organised the defence well, helping Dendoncker and Semedo with their positional awareness as Newcastle attacked down the left-hand side. Tried a number of cross field diagonal passes but Newcastle had clearly worked on restricting these, meaning he struggled to start attacks from the back. 6/10
Romain Saiss
A really solid defensive display from Saiss who saved Wolves with his stunning goal-line clearance late on in the second half. Saiss was also strong in the air, defending the many crosses and set piece deliveries that Newcastle put into the Wolves box. 7/10
Nelson Semedo
Didn’t have the same impact in an attacking sense as he has done in recent weeks, particularly after an excellent performance against Leeds. Semedo did however, deal with the pace of Saint-Maximin, particularly in limiting his attacking threat later in the first half and also in the second after a shaky start to the game. 6/10
Joao Moutinho
Another player who didn’t quite hit the heights of recent weeks, with a number of passes going astray as Wolves looked to build attacks. He was effective at winning the ball back in the middle of the park on numerous occasions, but his performance summed up Wolves’ afternoon. 6/10
Ruben Neves
Wolves had been crying out for more goals to come from midfield this season and Neves has certainly stepped up to the mark on this front. His first headed goal for Wolves ensured Nuno’s men did not leave the North East empty handed, with a wonderful steering header into the bottom corner. That was his fifth goal since Christmas. 7/10
Jonny Otto
Jonny continued his comeback from injury and played all but a minute of the draw on Tyneside. He was faultless once again in defence, with very little danger posed down Newcastle’s right-hand side. However, like many others, his passing and forward play was off point and led to various disjointed attempts to counterattack down the left-hand side. 6/10
Pedro Neto
Not at his match winning best but still carried Wolves up field on various occasions and always looked to make things happen. His perfect cross very nearly led to a Wolves winner in stoppage time, but Fabio Silva’s effort was saved onto the bar. 7/10
Willian Jose
Failed to contribute anything meaningful to the game, with his positive hold up play evident in recent weeks not on show here. He once again played almost 90 minutes without registering a shot, but Wolves’ poor performance meant constant attacking pressure was limited. 5/10
Adama Traore
Once again adopted the ‘inverted winger’ role on the left-hand side and provided another effective performance after a slow start to the game. Traore almost single-handily got Wolves a foothold in the game, creating half chances and moments inside the penalty area late in the first half, while also relieving any pressure and bringing the ball further up the pitch in the second. 7/10
Subs:
Fabio Silva
Provided a bright and energetic cameo for the second successive game, and certainly seems to have benefitted from the arrival of Willian Jose. Some will say he should have scored with just minutes remaining, but it was an excellent reflex save from Dubravka and bad luck that it didn’t end up in the back of the net. 6/10
Ki-Jana Hoever
A short introduction as he replaced the injured Nelson Semedo. Was keen to get forward as Wolves pushed for a late winner but could have little impact in just five minutes 6/10
Rayan Ait-Nouri
Played one minute of stoppage time, replacing Jonny who played 93 minutes, the longest since his return from injury. N/A
Ciaran Barker is part of the Talking Wolves editorial team – you can follow him on Twitter here.