Matt finish stuns 10-man Toon
MATT DOHERTY’S injury-time winner condemned Newcastle to their seventh home defeat this season.
But it is safe to say that referee Mike Dean won’t be on Rafa Benitez’s Christmas card list.
The Toon chief was fuming when he sent off DeAndre Yedlin in the 57th minute, believing his foul on Diogo Jota merited a yellow card and not a straight red.
And Benitez was outraged when a Willy Boly elbow on Ayoze Perez in the Wolves box then went unpunished.
Ten-man Newcastle initially coped well but the fatigue factor eventually told as Wolves belatedly turned the screw.
Substitute Raul Jimenez was desperately unlucky to see a shot cannon off the bar.
Dummy
And moments after that Perez incident, only a stunning 80th minute save from Martin Dubravka denied Doherty following an outrageous dummy by hot prospect Morgan Gibbs-White.
But with just seconds to go in added time Jota, who had opened the scoring, ran at a tiring defence.
Though Dubravka pushed away his shot it dropped invitingly for Doherty to head in at the far post.
It earned Wolves a second win inside a week, after beating Chelsea in midweek, and left Newcastle nursing an appalling home record.
Newcastle were the better side for long spells, though, and initially appeared unfazed by Yedlin’s controversial dismissal.
For a team of such gifted technicians, Wolves don’t quite add up to the sum of their parts and made desperately hard work of beating opponents who, on paper, were inferior.
No footballer likes being jeered but it NEWCASTLE (3-4-2-1): Dubravka
7; Lascelles 5, Fernandez 6 (Manquillo
6), Clark 6; 45, Yedlin 4, Ki 7, Diame 7, Ritchie Atsu 6 (Kenedy 7;
89), Perez 7; RONDON 7 (Joselu 86). Subs: Woodman, Dummett, Muto, Longstaff.
UP NEXT: Huddersfield (a), Premier League, Saturday.
WOLVES (3-4-3): Patricio 6; Bennett
6, Coady 5, Boly 6; Doherty 7, Neves Saiss 5 (Jimenez 7,
60, 6), Vinagre 5; Costa 7 (Moutinho 76), Traore 5 (Gibbs-White JOTA 8. 60, 7), Subs: Ruddy, Cavaleiro, Dendoncker, Bonatini.
UP NEXT: Bournemouth (h), Premier League, Saturday.
Referee: Mike Dean 6.
YOUR TURN: Which Dutch midfielder was sent off when Newcastle lost home 2-0 at to Wolves in the Championship in September 2016? previous weekend, was jeered off by a section of fans when substituted and then subsequently axed for the trip to Everton in midweek.
Yesterday’s goal was only his second of the season but it was a gem. Rondon was desperately unlucky when his thunderous
22-yard free-kick thudded off the underside of the bar but it was the striker himself who retrieved the clearance.
His delivery back into the box was made to measure for Perez to glide across Conor
Coady and send a glancing header past
Rui Patricio and into the bottom corner of the net.
Wolves’ opener was also beautifully crafted but owed much to some rank bad Toon defending.
Helder Costa showed great vision in picking out Jota, but with Yedlin deciding to forfeit responsibility and Jamaal Lascelles ball-watching, Jota had all the time in the world to control the ball on his chest before blasting home from close range.
Rondon forced a save out of Patricio and Mo Diame’s goalbound drive was deflected wide as Wolves dropped deeper and deeper as the match wore on.
Newcastle still looked the more likely winners, even in the minutes straight after Yedlin’s sending off.
Benitez reacted furiously to the red card but in truth Yedlin only had himself to blame with his dreadful touch letting in Jota and forcing the American to pull him back.
In the end, it proved a costly mistake.