In the Monday night kick-off in the Premier League, Wolves faced Newcastle at the golden palace. It was a tough match, with Newcastle playing well and Wolves struggling to get the ball past keeper Matt Dúbravka. Despite Wolves attempting to pile on the pressure, it was Newcastle who took the lead after 56 minutes through Isaac Hayden. After that, it looked like the three points were in the bag for them, until Willy Boly headed Wolves level in the dying moments of the match. This added another injury-time goal to Wolves tally, which is now up to five and means that no team has scored more goals past 90 minutes this season than Wolves (Manchester United and Cardiff are level).
Overall performance
At the start of the season, Wolves had problems converting their shots into goals, and Monday night looked like a reminder of that. Of course, you can’t expect to go out and score 3+ goals every single game, but with 22 shots, six on target and eight blocked, it felt like they should have gotten their goal a lot sooner than they did.
Considering, Wolves have struggled to perform against teams in the bottom half of the table this season, this match could have gone a lot worse. They held 59% of the possession, with 81% passing accuracy, and by preventing Newcastle from scoring a second, made the task of getting back into the match a little easier.
They weren’t as physically strong as Newcastle, winning fewer duels and aerials, and only winning 53% of tackles they made.
Boly to the rescue
Boly loves to score a header, and he always seems to come through at the most important moments. There has been a little controversy surrounding the equaliser, mainly as to whether it was a foul on Dúbravka. It was clear that Dúbravka has lost the ball before Boly makes contact with his face, so it’s not a foul. As for the time of the goal, you play until the whistle blows, it’s as simple as that.
It wasn’t just his goal that was important, however, as he made four clearances, three interceptions, blocked two shots and won seven out of 12 duels. He also had 84% passing accuracy and as you can tell from the heatmap, worked super hard.
Conclusion
Wolves managed to steal a valuable from a well-organised Newcastle side. It wasn’t easy and although their conversion rate was poor, they got the goal in the end which is what matters. I said beforehand that Newcastle would be tough to play, especially considering their recent improvement and win over Manchester City just weeks ago. All things considered, It’s good to walk away from that with a dramatic draw.
Up next, Wolves face Bristol City away in the FA Cup on Sunday and if they win, I think they could go all the way. They have an 86% chance of avoiding the winner of Manchester United/Chelsea if they get through, which is very positive. Let’s be honest who wouldn’t love the chance to cheer their team on at Wembley? It would be a magical sight.
