Doherty delivers injury-time winner for Wolves
Dynamic Doherty seals it at the death
SOMETIMES in football, your hard work gets you what you deserve. Here at St James’ Park, Wolves wing back Matt Doherty had powered up and down the right side all afternoon. Playing that position for a demanding coach like Nuno Espirito Santo (below) can be an exhausting business.
Twice, the 26-year-old looked as though his boundless energy would bring him a goal in the second half. Once he was denied by a tackle by Newcastle’s Ciaran Clark and then, late on, his shot was saved acrobatically by goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Deep into added time, it seemed as though Wolves’ race was run. They had tried to overpower plucky 10-man Newcastle with the use of smart substitutions and some speed on the counter but after chances came and went, a draw looked likely.
However, in the 94th minute of the game Doherty followed a break upfield by team-mate Diogo Jota. For the umpteenth time, the Irishman hurtled forwards optimistically.
Jota was helped by a Newcastle defence who backed off but his run was purposeful and tricky and when his shot was saved by Dubravka, Doherty’s efforts were finally rewarded as he arrived to head the rebound into an empty net. The celebrations were pretty wild and no wonder. Wolves’ season had stalled after their bright start but now a midweek win against Chelsea has been followed by this. Already, December will feel like a good month. Newcastle probably deserved a draw. This had been a mish-mash of a game until Yedlin was sent off, with nobody in the ascendency. For Yedlin, it was an awful day. He and Lascelles lost Jota between them as Wolves took a deserved lead in the 17th minute, the Portuguese controlling a Helder Costa cross on his chest before crashing a close-range volley past Dubravka. Newcastle did recover from that and for a while played reasonably well. Striker Salomon Rondon was a threat and crashed a free-kick against the bar in the 23rd minute before chasing the clearance and supplying a cross that Perez diverted into the net with a cute flicked header. Rondon brought a low save from Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio after a nice turn just before halftime and seemed to have an appetite for the game. But once Yedlin hauled down Jota, Newcastle were locked in a fight that looked and felt rather different.
Wolves took a while to make their numerical advantage pay but eventually they began to tear Newcastle to pieces on the counter.
Dubravka’s save from Doherty came as Perez lay on the ground after his clash with Boly and that would have been a controversial goal indeed.
On another occasion, though, Costa broke to feed substitute Raul Jimenez and his driven shot crashed against the same portion of the bar Rondon had struck earlier.
A draw would have felt right but it wasn’t to be.
The game’s best player scored the winning goal and there was something fitting about that at least. NEWCASTLE UNITED (3-4-2-1): Dubravka 7.5; Lascelles 5.5, Fernandez 6 (Manquillo 45min, 6), Clark 7; Yedlin 5.5, Diame 6, Ki 6.5, Ritchie 6; Atsu 6 (Kenedy 88), Perez 7; Rondon 7 (Joselu 85). Subs not used: Woodman, Dummett, Muto, Longstaff. Scorer: Perez 23. Booked: Clark, Ki. Sent off: Yedlin. Manager: Rafa Benitez 6.5. WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (3-4-2-1): Patricio 6.5; Bennett 6.5, Coady 7, Boly 6.5; DOHERTY 8, Saiss 6.5 (Jimenez 59, 7), Neves 6.5, Vinagre 6; Costa 7 (Moutinho 75, 6), Jota 7.5; Traore 7 (Gibbs-White 59, 6.5). Subs not used: Ruddy, Cavaleiro, Dendoncker, Bonatini. Scorers: Jota 17, Doherty 90+4. Booked: Doherty, Costa, Bennett, Coady, Jota. Manager: Nuno Espirito Santo 8. Referee: Mike Dean 6. Attendance: 50,233.