Jacob Murphy snatches point for Newcastle at Wolves with late free-kick

Jacob Murphy scored a late free-kick as Newcastle snatched a 1-1 draw at Wolves in the Premier League.

The home side started well against a Newcastle team reshaped due to a shortage of options in midfield, only to fade after a bright opening 10 minutes. The best chance of the first half fell to Allan Saint-Maximin, whose deflected shot from 25 yards was well saved by Rui Patricio.

Wolves were the better side in the second half. Raul Jimenez looked to have won it with a strike from the edge of the area in the 80th minute, only for Newcastle to strike back just before full-time when Murphy smuggled a low free-kick past Patricio.

Wolves move up to seventh in the Premier League table, while Newcastle remain in 14th position.

Can Wolves find a cutting edge this season? But for their efforts in defending that late free-kick from Newcastle, Wolves would be sat in fourth position in the Premier League. The fact that they’re not is due to a profligacy that is beginning to look like it might be a problem this season.

Wolves failed to score in the first half, a recurring problem for them, but got into enough decisive positions in the second to have put the game away. Yet even against a reorganised Newcastle United team defending with a back five, it still took a long-range effort from Jimenez, that goalkeeper Karl Darlow should have saved, to give Wolves the lead.

Murphy’s late intervention denied them a third 1-0 victory in a row. Of more concern for Nuno Espirito Santo than how they shipped the equaliser should be their lack of goals this season. Jimenez's strike was only their sixth goal in six matches so far, the lowest return of any team outside of the bottom four. Of those goals, four have been from Jimenez; with Diogo Jota now at Anfield, Wolves need Daniel Podence, Ruben Neves, Pedro Neto and Fabio Silva to start chipping in with goals if they are to remain in the upper echelons of the table.

Podence was at the heart of everything good that Wolves did today, with his urgency and invention markedly standing out as others toiled around him. It was an odd decision to take him off, and although Wolves took the lead without him his willingness to look for the ball and economy in possession might have been invaluable in the final 10 minutes.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (3-4-3): Patricio 5; Kilman 6, Coady 6, Boly 6; Saiss 6, Neves 7, Dedoncker 6; Semedo 6; Neto 7, Jiminez 7, Podence 7

SUBS: Marcal 6, Moutinho 6, Traore 7

Newcastle United (3-5-2): Darlow 5; Lascelles 6, Fernandez 6, Schar 6; Fraser 7, Hendrick 6, Murphy 7, Almiron 6, Lewis 6; Saint-Maximin 7, Wilson 6

SUBS: Carroll 6, Joelinton 6, S Longstaff 6

41’ CHANCE! The free kick comes to nothing and Newcastle break up the field. Saint-Maximin gets it on the left, and cuts infield past two defenders before unloading from 25 yards. It catches a wicked deflection off Semedo on the way and Patricio does well to adjust and gather low to his left.

51’ CHANCE! Podence gets in space down the left and carries the ball into the Newcastle area. He picks out Neto, who side-foots his shot from the edge of the area just over the crossbar.

80’ GOAL! Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 (Jiminez 80) Newcastle United 0 The breakthrough! Neto whips in another free kick from the left, which Newcastle head clear to the edge of the area. Jiminez is there, all alone, and he cushions the ball before lashing a shot that Darlow can only parry into the corner of his net!

88’ Now then; Coady fouls Wilson on the right edge of the area and it's a free kick to Newcastle. Right on cue, on comes Andy Carroll to replace Lascelles.

88’ GOAL! Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Newcastle United 1 (Murphy 88) We're level! Rather than chip it in for Carroll and Joelinton, Murphy goes low around the side of a terribly positioned wall and shoots to the near post. Patricio can't stop the curling shot squirming in, and it's all square!

Wolves have failed to score in the first half of 58 of their Premier League matches since returning to the Premier League in 2018-19.