WWFC 2-1 NUFC: Heroes, villains & player ratings from Wolves’ win vs Newcastle

Wolverhampton Wanderers made it back-to-back wins for the first time this season following the 2-1 victory over Newcastle United on Saturday.

It wasn’t the prettiest game of football you’ll see but that won’t matter to the Wolves fans tonight as they finally get their long awaited win at Molineux.

Wanderers now go into the international break in a much healthier position as the result sees them move into the top half of the Premier League for the first time.

Heroes

Hee Chan Hwang: The match winner. Two goals on the day and his third in a Wolves shirt. He was the best player on the pitch for Wanderers. Threatening going forward and worked back constantly for the team. All four sides of Molineux were upstanding when he was replaced in injury time and rightly so. A very, very good performance from the South Korean.

Raul Jimenez: No goals on the day for the fan favourite but two key assists. Both goals started with him out-muscling Newcastle players in the middle of the field before providing inch perfect through balls to his teammate who did the rest. The two look to be forming a very solid partnership together.

Jeff Hendrick: The enforced substitution was almost a blessing in disguise for Newcastle because Hendrick came on and gave them much more authority in the middle of the park. His impact was almost instantaneous too as he slotted past Sa with one of his first touches. It ultimately wasn’t enough for the visitors but he was certainly a bright spark in their side.

Villains

Graham Scott: The referee won’t be making many friends in Wolverhampton any time soon. It seemed like every decision he gave on the day was for the visitors and the fans let him know. “We always get sh*t refs” was a chant repeated more than once throughout the 90 minutes.

The international break: Wolves go into the international break now in the best form they’ve been in this season. Following back-to-back wins, you’d argue the best thing for the team is to keep that momentum going but it cannot be helped. You’ve just got to hope it doesn’t halt any positive progress the squad has made over the last few weeks. One positive, of course, is that it allows more time for a number of the injured members of the team to get fit without missing more games.

Midfield: It was a really strange game from a Wolves perspective. They will play much better this season and lose. Both goals scored were of the highest class but aside from that it was a really rough on the eye match. They struggled to keep possession on numerous occasions and were just sloppy all-round for the most part. It may be a tad harsh to single out the midfield but they did seem to lose the battle today.

Player ratings

Wolves: Sa 7; Semedo 6, Saiss 6, Coady 6, Kilman 6, Marcal 6; Moutinho 6, Neves 7; Trincao 6 (Dendoncker 85’ N/A), Hwang 9 (Traore 90’ N/A), Jimenez 8

Newcastle United: Darlow 6; Manquillo 6 (Murphy 70 N/A), Clark 6, Fernandez 6, Hayden 6, Ritchie 6; Longstaff 5, Willock N/A (36’ Hendrick 7); Almiron 6 (77’ Gayle N/A), Saint- Maximin 7, Joelinton 6

What next?

Wolves will be back in action following the international break on 16th October when they travel to west midlands rivals, Aston Villa. Not a bad one to get the blood flowing after a two week lay-off.