Newcastle United made it three wins from four in the Premier League with a narrow victory away at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.
It wasn’t a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination for Eddie Howe’s side, with the game looking to be slipping away from the Magpies after Mario Lemina opened the scoring.
But, a big effort from the Tyneside outfit in the second 45 minutes saw Fabian Schar and Harvey Barnes score in quick succession to turn the game on its head in Newcastle’s favour to win 2-1.
The Magpies boss arguably got his team selection wrong for this trip to Molineux, as both the aforementioned Barnes and Joe Willock – who assisted the former Leicester City man’s winner – came to the rescue off the substitutes’ bench.
Yet, Jacob Murphy somehow survived the entire 90 minutes despite an underwhelming performance against Gary O’Neil’s Old Gold.
Murphy's performance vs Wolves
Murphy could well be worried about how solid his starting spot is moving forward now after his forgettable display in the West Midlands, as the likes of Barnes shone over the right-winger.
The Newcastle number 23 would only register one meagre effort on Sam Johnstone’s goal in the even clash, whilst substitute Barnes would fire three efforts – operating as a constant nuisance.
Moreover, Murphy lacked a bite in his game to try and get his side on the front foot when they were a goal down, with no duels won from nine attempted in the contest, whilst his passing at times was also haphazard with possession lost a poor 16 times against the hosts.
He was ultimately fortunate that Howe didn’t haul him off the pitch, as other players had arguably worse horror shows, with a light 6/10 rating handed out to the former Norwich City man at full-time by Shields Gazette journalist Dominic Scurr.
Howe’s substitutions at half-time made all the difference away from Murphy putting in a forgettable display, with Sean Longstaff not as lucky as his teammate to ride out the full 90 minutes, having been rightly hooked off at the interval.
Longstaff's performance vs Wolves
Longstaff will be seriously worried about his starting place in Howe’s XI after his dire first-half showing, with one wayward pass allowing the hosts to open the scoring.
Wolves still had a lot to do on the following counterattack, with Lemina eventually powering home, but the move started off as a result of the below-par Magpies number 36 giving up the ball.
Away from this dismal individual error, Longstaff was also weak in the centre of the park up against the likes of Joao Gomes, with zero duels successfully won from four attempts, alongside only managing to muster up 22 touches as a quiet and passive presence.
Both Sandro Tonali and Willock when introduced into the game offered far more centrally, with Willock assisting Barnes’ dramatic winner, whilst Tonali also looked tidy directly replacing the out-of-sorts 26-year-old.
Stat
Tonali
Willock
Longstaff
Minutes played
45
45
45
Goals scored
0
0
0
Assists
0
1
0
Shots on goal
2
1
0
Touches
24
23
22
Accurate passes
14/15 (93%)
12/13 (92%)
19/21 (90%)
Key passes
0
5
0
Total duels won
3/4
6/7
0/4
Stats by Sofascore
Looking at the table above, both the Italian midfielder and the ex-Arsenal man were key in the comeback win being secured, with Willock impressively amassing five key passes from just one half of football.
The 26-year-old’s poor display was reflected in his post-match rating by Scurr, who gave the homegrown Magpies product a 5/10 rating and acknowledged that his ‘loose’ pass in the first 45 minutes played a part in Lemina making it 1-0.
The clash at Molineux will have given Howe much to ponder regarding his future team selections, and the manager must now ruthlessly ditch Longstaff from the XI for their next clash in the Premier League versus Fulham.
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