Ruben Neves’ brilliant strike had Wolves in front for the majority of the second-half, before a late Newcastle strike ensured the points would be shared. A pair of VAR decisions went the way of the Magpies, and while Lage wanted more quality from his players on the ball in the final 20 minutes, the head coach insists the signs are promising, with the next challenge just around the corner on Wednesday.
On frustrations with the result
“I think we did a good game, the way we started the game, the way we went to press. The good signs were there. First-half I think we controlled everything, against Newcastle, the way they play, with long balls in behind for three fast attackers and second balls. We were very brave at set pieces.
“After, there’s a little bit of frustration of course, the way they scored the goal at the end of the game. Today, to be honest, we deserved the three points. It’s hard when I go inside and see the frustration of my players. It was an easy chance for them to score a goal. A lucky chance in my opinion. Two decisions with VAR, every time it was against us – two little things which bring frustration, but it’s just one point.”
On those VAR decisions
“I need to review it with the player. Maybe 90 per cent of the people after watching the image will say it’s a red card, but the referee and VAR took another decision. I can see the leg of Pedro Neto and it’s a strange foul. I think it should be a red card in my opinion. The referee came to watch and make a decision on the goal, so why didn’t he come to make a decision on that one?
“What I learned from the first minute of the Premier League is it’s a game of contact, it’s a physical game, but in that situation the referee continued and then turned his decision. We need to live with it and now need to continue to work. It’s hard to take the goal and it’s a red card.”
Poetry in motion 😍 pic.twitter.com/9oWSSZdXNK
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 28, 2022
On the positives
“More important is the way we work and the way we play. We know we’re playing against a strong team, we can see the kind of game they did against Man City. We played also very strong, with a big ambition. We scored, we controlled the game, and after the ball is in the corner, you try to put the ball in front, and concede a chance in front of our box. This is football, he scored.
“Nelson was brave, Raul was brave, Guedes was brave, and these guys just arrived. You try to manage the game in the best way, I was looking to Raul, but he was so important at set pieces. If you take him off, you have a less tall man in the box to defend situations.
“Now, we continue to work, the only thing we can control. One more time, I saw my team with a big ambition to play. Now recover and in three days we have another game. The time is to look forward, see the good things we did.”
On handling Newcastle’s pressure
“We were in the moment they tried to put us a little bit towards our box. We were organised, we were with men. Maybe, in two or three situations that we can do better, a fast transition, and we came to a point. In general, I think we did a good game.
“The plan was there, we tried to press, we tried to play with the ball. We started very good, scored our goal. We need to have more control, to keep the ball more, to do a better transition. Even in the situations, I think we controlled everything, we know how they play.”
On doing better on counter attacks
“When we have the ball, there’s no need to be nervous, we need to be relaxed. We know they are a strong team and need to find the moments to have the ball and make better decisions when we have the ball. It was that in the last 20 minutes we could do better, but even in that way we had a good chance to score a goal, but it was unlucky for us.
“We needed to have more quality with the ball. In the end it’s a hard draw but now we need time to recover, look at what happened, and look forward because we have an important game in three days.”
