Willock’s return makes Toon tick
SOME players exist within themselves, looking after what they do. Others, and possibly the minority, impact teammates and make them better. For Newcastle, Joe Willock is one such player. To have him back in a Premier League starting XI — for only the second time this season — made all the difference at St James’ Park on Saturday. Remember last week’s Dan Burn debate — and the week before that and the week before that — about the left back needing to be dropped? He started against Wolves and was rarely troubled. Why? Because of a tactical tweak enabled by the presence of Willock, allied to the midfielder’s protection of Burn. Eddie Howe changed his approach and told his back line to sit deep, ceded possession to Wolves and played on the break. Willock’s running power was central to the entire plan. Newcastle, at times, played like the away team. It worked. It was not just Burn who looked more comfortable. Bruno Guimaraes had a midfield buddy to share the heavy lifting, and the Brazilian was liberated when he had the ball. Anthony Gordon had to worry less about running back and, instead, the left winger ran forward at pace at every opportunity. It led to the first goal scored by Alexander Isak, and Gordon himself got the second, again on the break. At 2-0 up, the game was won inside a 33-minute period in which Wolves boss Gary O’Neil insisted his team were far superior, a first-half possession count of 61 per cent supporting his belief. He was wrong. It was a trick of the eye and Wolves had fallen under the spell of Newcastle who added a third in secondhalf injury time through Tino Livramento.
NEWCASTLE (4-3-3): Dubravka 7.5; Trippier 6.5 (Livramento 52min, 7.5), Schar 8, Botman 7, Burn 7; Longstaff 6.5, Guimaraes 8, WILLOCK 8.5 (Miley 70, 7); Murphy 7 (Almiron 70, 6), Isak 7 (Barnes 70, 6.5), Gordon 7.5 (Anderson 90). Scorers: Isak 14, Gordon 33, Livramento 90+2. Booked: None. Manager: Eddie Howe 8. WOLVES (3-4-3): Sa 5 (Bentley 46, 6); Kilman 5, Dawson 5.5, Toti 5 (H Bueno 60, 6); Semedo 6, M Lemina 6 (Traore 81), Doyle 6.5, Ait-Nouri 6.5; Neto 6 (Fraser 46, 5.5), Bellegarde 5.5 (Chirewa 81), Sarabia 6. Booked: Ait-Nouri. Manager: Gary O’Neil 6. Referee: Tim Robinson 7. Attendance: 52,206.