Wolves showed character to come from behind twice to earn a point against Newcastle United and the Matchday Live Extra team of Andy Thompson and Lee Naylor joined Mikey Burrows at Molineux.
Fair result in the end
Callum Wilson twice had Newcastle in front at Molineux, but Wolves showed their fighting spirit to come back, first through Mario Lemina, then Hee Chan Hwang, and a point was the least they deserved.
Hall of famer Thompson said: “Both teams, straight from the off, went for it. It was a good game, the tempo was great, and both teams got the fans behind them. It was a fair result, nobody deserved to lose that game, but we were unlucky with two mistakes and that shows the quality of the Premier League. It showed character to battle back from being behind twice.”
Former Old Gold full-back Naylor said: “When you look at the game and break it down, they’ll be saying they need to cut out the mistakes. The last ten minutes of the first half you could see the 10-yard passes weren’t being made and we were getting a bit sloppy. The way we turned it around second half, it’s a big achievement.”
A controversial penalty incident
Wolves were behind at the break after Hwang was adjudged to have fouled Fabian Schar, but after a lengthy VAR check, the decision looked to be a harsh one on Wolves.
Thompson said: “I can understand why it was upheld, but I think he’s caught the floor and Schar was on his way down before he caught him, which is the biggest problem. He’s caught him as he’s hit the floor. We shouldn’t have been there in the first place, he should have got rid of the ball. You can’t be having a touch in your own penalty area and a player of his quality should know better.
“I can’t believe VAR hasn’t looked at the actions of Schar when he’s on his way down before the contact’s come. The referee’s the one who should have a look at the screen, because he’s the one who has given it. Us three said penalty, so he should be having another look on the screen, to make sure it’s beyond any doubt.”
Naylor said: “It’s tough. When we watched it in real time, I don’t think anybody would disagree that it was a penalty. When you break it down, it’s inconclusive, because there is a touch, but it’s so minor and he’s going down already. Hwang stopped his action, so it’s harsh. If he goes to the monitor, he’s not giving a pen, I honestly believe that.”
A well-worked second goal
Hwang was the Wolves hero still however, after he collected Toti’s pass, turned past Dan Burn and fired home the equaliser in front of the South Bank.
Thompson said: “Something we criticised was the final pass and bit of quality. Great little ball into him, but it’s all about the finish, all about Hwang. Dan Burn tried to read it, as any defender would, because he thought he was going to shoot with his right foot, and everybody did, but the skill, touch and movement of the ball, it was a great bit of play. It was a great goal in general. You haven’t got to blast everything – it’s about hitting the target. Pope tried to read it, falling one way, and his leg tried to block it. But it was a great finish and great build up, deservedly getting Wolves back on level terms. If he’s scoring, it’s giving us an opportunity to win games.”
Naylor said: “He’s in such a rich vein of scoring form that he’s going to score every game. He gets chances, he has always got chances, he just never put his foot through the ball. He’s doing that this season, it’s all coming off, and when you get that first, second, third goal, that’s when your mindset changes and his mind now is that he’s going to score every game.”
A big goal from Hee Chan!
— Wolves (@Wolves) October 28, 2023
🇰🇷🙌 pic.twitter.com/5T62VfHuho
Neto picking up an injury
The major disappointment on Saturday was the injury picked up by Pedro Neto, after the youngster started the season in flying form. A spell on the sidelines now awaits.
Thompson said: “I’m hoping the injury isn’t as bad as it looked when he pulled up straight away, because they can be nasty. Maybe because he pulled up so quickly and stopped running, it might have helped him. All the momentum we had going forward, all of a sudden it gives Newcastle a bit of relief, from a player who caused them problems all afternoon. All of a sudden, it knocked Wolves back a bit, knowing they were missing him.”
Naylor said: “When people leave it [the ball] like that, and stay on the floor like he did, you know it’s bad. It’s such a massive loss.”
The run of form
Wolves are now unbeaten in five Premier League matches, two of which came against Champions League opponents, and momentum is building at Molineux.
Naylor said: “They’ve backed up results, which is a massive thing. When you get an unexpected result, like we did against Man City, it’s so important when you back results up. It’s brilliant from the management, brilliant from the players. The fans have had their say here, they’ve been magnificent, and we need to keep that going. The fans are massive for us, you need to keep this going.”
Thompson said: “We keep saying it, we’ve got to follow it up with a result. Next week is so important for the result. After what we did on Saturday, and the way we’ve maintained the five games, the way we’ve played, we’ve got to keep the momentum going now. Big game against Sheffield United.”
Mentality switch in the camp
After an enthralling 90 minutes, Thompson and Naylor spoke of the fighting spirit which has returned to Wolves under Gary O’Neil.
Thompson said: “If you think of that last year, we wouldn’t have got ourselves back in the game, the way we were playing. This year, there’s a lift, belief that we can cause anybody a problem. When Nuno was here, he had a team which could cause any team a problem in the Premier League and I think Gary O’Neil’s trying to get that instilled into his team. You’ve got a team which believes it can go out and compete against anybody, which they have, they’ve beaten Man City, drawn with Villa, drawn with Newcastle, two Champions League teams and one of them won it last year. It shows you how far we’ve come and the quality in the squad.
“If you can battle and fight for everything, of course people want goals, but straight from the off this place was bouncing with the way we were playing. They want to see a team challenging any team in this division.”
Naylor said: “I think we’ve turned things around in terms of the fans’ belief, the media’s belief, the players’ belief, everything’s been turned around. What we can actually achieve when we fight, when we work hard, because the quality has always been in the dressing room. People want to see us, people don’t want to play against us.”
