Newcastle 1-1 Wolves: Ruben Neves earns share of the spoils at St James' Park
By Max Cooper
Newcastle United and Wolves played out a surprisingly entertaining 1-1 draw at St James' Park, though both sides will be disappointed to have only claimed a point.
The hosts started the brighter of the two, and thought they had taken the lead when Allan Saint-Maximin danced through the visitors' backline to tap home after Joe Willock's initial shot had been blocked.
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It's the skipper Jamaal Lascelles who provides his side with the breakthrough.
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But the Frenchman was stood in an offside position when Willock touched the ball, chalking his effort off. That setback didn't rock Newcastle and they did end up taking the lead seven minutes into the second half, Jamaal Lascelles meeting Ryan Fraser's cross to head the ball beyond Rui Patricio in Wolves' goal.
The Magpies' hopes of picking up all three points effectively disappeared down the tunnel with Saint-Maximin, after the winger was forced to limp from the field - leaving Newcastle devoid of the star quality needed to see out the game.
Wolves smelt blood at this point, and they restored parity on 73 minutes thanks to a wonderful team move, capped by Ruben Neves heading in Pedro Neto's cross.
Neither team was content to settle for a point, and both went for the jugular in an entertaining finish to the game. Joelinton, low on confidence and seemingly unable to buy a goal, had a great opportunity to end his drought late on, and when his effort flew past Patricio's left hand, it looked for all the world that his effort would ripple the net.
Cue Moroccan defender Romain Saiss stepping into the path of the ball, ricocheting the ball away off his back.
⚽ In his 98th PL appearance, Ruben Neves has scored his first headed goal from his first headed attempt in the competition pic.twitter.com/P2jIVmVPOd
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Wolves came within millimetres of snatching the win at the death, as the dangerous Neto picked out young striker Fabio Silva in the box. The Portuguese couldn't beat Martin Dubravka though, recalled in place of Karl Darlow, as the Slovak stopper palmed his point-blank header round the post.
A point is a decent result for both sides, and supporters of each club can perhaps take comfort from the more expansive brand of football played on the night.