Newcastle United: Grading the 1-0 win over Wolves
Newcastle United went on the road and took three points from Wolves with a 1-0 victory.
Newcastle United is back on top of the table after they topped Wolves 1-0 tonight on Sky Sports. I broke down the match grades by area.
C. . 2/11 vs. Wolves. . Attack
Outside of the goal by Aleksandar Mitrovic, the attacking unit didn’t have a ton of impact on the match. Mitro was overly aggressive, and whistled frequently, on 50/50 balls. Jonjo Shelvey was surprisingly not very involved. Newcastle United was too content on just clearing the ball away, or firing a long, risky pass ahead, to actually build possession. Mohamed Diame was decent going forward, but just like his counterparts, didn’t provide much worry to the Wolves keeper.
The lone goal of the match came on a free kick, one where Jamaal Lascelles was in an offside position, there was a possible handball, a lovely tap from Lascelles, and a calm finish from Mitro. It was the only tally they needed, and it was one of two main threats. The other was early on, when Jack Colback was played in front of the keeper, and rolled a shot right into him.
2/11 vs. Wolves. . Defense. A.
While the attack looked disjointed most of the match, the back line was a steady unit. Outside of a couple chances that missed by a good margin, the Wolves attack was stymied by Ciaran Clark and Co. DeAndre Yedlin continued his great run of form. Paul Dummett cleared the ball away numerous times, and the centre back combo of Clark-Lascelles turned away any threat towards the middle.
. Goalkeeping. A. . 2/11 vs. Wolves
This also could be an A+ if Karl Darlow didn’t pick up a yellow card late. He did a great job directing the Magpies defense, and was great in the air. Not only did he make every save he needed to, which wasn’t many, he also caught every cross he could get to, not allowing a follow up chance.
B-. . 2/11 vs. Wolves. . Managing
The biggest knock against Rafa Benitez in this match was his selection of Jack Colback. The midfielder has been tough to watch when chosen, and tonight was no different. He was sloppy offensively and defensively in the middle of the park. Rafa was partially right to stick with Mitro, as he netted the match winner, but also received a yellow and was lucky not to get another. His sub of Christian Atsu for Mitro at the half worked perfectly. Atsu was able to cause the defenders to react with his pace, and flair on the ball. Daryl Murphy and Ayoze Perez were both brought on late, and were helpful in closing the game out.