Newcastle needed a win today, and the lads produced the goods and came away with a magnificent 4-1 victory, and not too bad a display either, in front of almost 50,000 fans at St. James’ Park – job well done!
Newcastle had their very first chance in the first minute in today’s game, and it was Steve Harper’s long kick upfield that was completely misjudged by the hesitant Wolves defense, and Lovenkrands was only a little short in getting to the ball ahead of goalkeeper Hennessey.
And Newcastle had another decent opportunity after 16 minutes, when Joey Barton put in a good free kick and Mike Williamson’s brilliant diving header was saved well by the Welsh International goalkeeper.
Williamson was close to his first ever goal for Newcastle.
And as in the game at Wolves early in the season, it seemed that Joey Barton was being fouled, presumably in the hopes that he would lose his temper, but Joey would have been expecting this, and kept himself under good control.
As we suggested this morning, when an important game comes along, Newcastle can usually really on their captain Kevin Nolan to get a goal, and Kevin got the important first goal this afternoon, after 22 minutes.
Kevin Nolan makes these goals look easy, and he was on the ball like a flash from an excellent flick-on from that masked man Shola Ameobi, and Nolan had the ball in the back of the net in an instant, to the huge relief of Newcastle fans.
And that goal put Kevin clear of Andy Carroll with 12 goals for the season.
The game was starting to boil over as the half progresses, and both Kevin Nolan and Shola Ameobi got yellow cards, and of course that was Kevin’s 10th yellow card of the season , and now he misses the next two game through suspension.
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot …… again.
And then Newcastle got a second at a great time, just before half time, as Shola Ameobi scored his first goal for Newcastle since returning from his broken cheekbone, and Shola got the goal when Newcastle most needed it, and it was with a great header.
Gutierrez played in Lovenkrands on the left, and the Danish striker’s cross was met by Shola Ameobi, and the Newcastle striker headed the ball magnificently into the back of the net – a terrific goal from the local lad!
Shola has his critics at Newcastle, but when this Nigerian-born player is on form, he can play a bit, and that was Shoal’s 7th goal of the season and his 70th goal ever for the Newcastle club.
At the half Newcastle were ahead 2-0 and the question was could the lads get all 3 points this afternoon?
Just five minutes into the second half Newcastle went 3-0 up, to the delight of the Geordie crowd, with a goal from Peter Lovenkrands, and so both strikers got a goal today, when Newcastle needed it most.
Fabricio Coloccini was away on the right wing, and showed all of his South American skills, to put a ball through to Joey Barton, and Barton’s cross was low and it was Peter Lovenkrands who put the ball into the net – a wonderfully worked goal by Newcastle. and Peter’s 5th of the season.
Ebanks-Blake got one back for Wolves after 58 minutes, to deny Newcastle a clean sheet, after conceding four goals last time out at Stoke.
Matt Jarvis went away down the left wing, and the winger cut the ball back to Ebanks-Blake, who wa sin for the injured Kevin Doyle, and he easily beat Harper from close range, and it was 3-1.
And a minute later Stephen Fletcher should have scored Wolves’ second goal, but somehow managed to miss from only a couple of yards out, with the goal at his mercy – how much do these guys get paid to put the ball into the net?
It was a woeful miss by the Scot and a huge let-off for Newcastle, at an important juncture of the game.
And Wolves took advantage of the goal and mounted a comeback in the second half, and it was James Perch, who had come on as a substitute for Shane Ferguson in the second half, that saved Newcastle when he headed off the line after 72 minutes.
But Wolves couldn’t get that second goal, which would have made Newcastle very nervous, and it was in the third minute of injury time when Gutierrez scored for Newcastle to make it 4-1 – and a magnificent result, and a very good display for the Magpies.
The Argentine international played very well today out on the left wing, and he got the ball from Steven Taylor, who came on in the 89th minute, and Jonas moved inside before hitting a beautiful swerving shot that the Wolves goalkeeper no chance at all.
That was the Argentine’s second goal for Newcastle this season, and four different scorers today for Newcastle United.
So Newcastle move into the top half of the table and are now 7 points above the drop zone with 7 games to play, and that’s really 8 points because of the positive goal difference.
A tremendous result when Newcastle really needed it, and we’re not going to get carried away, but with Everton only drawing 2-2 with Aston Villa this afternoon, Newcastle are just two points out of 7th place.
The Magpies are one point above Sunderland, who play at Manchester City tomorrow, and the Black Cats will need a win tomorrow to go above Newcastle.
And finally as a comparison to the relegation season of two years ago when Newcastle had 29 points and were in 19th place (second bottom) after 31 games, and with a goal difference of -15, whereas Newcastle are 9th top right now with 39 points and a goal difference of +2 after 31 games.
A huge improvement form the relegation seaosn, and one more win should be enough to see the lads safe, and if we can put a decent run together we could still finish in the top 10.
And of course Alan Pardew said he wanted to put a smile on the faces of Newcastle fans today, and he has done just that – and well done to Alan and the team, because they produced the goods when it really mattered today – we were proud of our players today.
Where’s that bottle of red wine?
Howay The Lads!!
Teams:
Newcastle (4-4-2): Steve Harper; Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Shane Ferguson (James Perch 58); Joey Barton (Steven Taylor 89), Danny Guthrie, Kevin Nolan (c), Jonas Gutierrez; Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands (Nile Ranger 68)
Subs not used: Tim Krul, James Tavernier, Sol Campbell, Shefki Kuqi
Wolves (4-5-1): Wayne Hennessey; Kevin Foley, Richard Stearman, Christophe Berra, George Elokobi (Stephen Ward 81); Adam Hammill (Michael Kightly 53), Nenad Milijas (Stephen Fletcher 30), Karl Henry (c), Jamie O’Hara, Matt Jarvis; Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Subs not used: Marcus Hahnemann, Jody Craddock, Michael Mancienne, David Jones
Referee: Mike Dean
Attendance: 49,939
58 comments so far
JP...from The Rock
Apr 2, 2011 at 6:51 PM
Comment #41toonfan09 – Colo can play CDM when need be as he has played there before for Deportivo. He actually prefers to play there as he mentioned when he signed for us. I think he would do well at CDM but he is the heart of our defense. We could try pushing him up there and Steven Taylor in his place against Villa. But I would play around like that once we’re completely safe.
davcon22
Apr 2, 2011 at 6:55 PM
Comment #42above the unwashed!! happy days
Thump
Apr 2, 2011 at 6:56 PM
Comment #43Great result. That’s the fight we need to see every game.
I mean even Perch, the worst player on the pitch, did his job fairly well (despite picking up yet another daft yellow card).
We’re going to miss Nolan, though. I hope Ireland or Guthrie can step up to the mark and do what they do best in his absence.
toonfan09
Apr 2, 2011 at 6:56 PM
Comment #44fair enough dave 1961 just when i asked before i was told we would have to take down the old stand and start again
roitoon1
Apr 2, 2011 at 7:00 PM
Comment #45I don’t understand ppl getting on ameobi and Lovermans back today. Two goals and 2 assists from the front two. Can’t ask for much more… Fair enough they weren’t up to scratch in the past but very good today. We can’t honestly play perch v villa. Good pro but he’s poor. Why not saylor lb if Fergie and Jose out. Also simple as barton cm and raylor on the right v villa.
toonfan09
Apr 2, 2011 at 7:07 PM
Comment #46when james perch came on i thought we would lose how did he manage to be on for all of 5 mins and get a booking
Marty-Toon
Apr 2, 2011 at 7:12 PM
Comment #47Shola,Barton,Jonas and Nolan were great today.
Gutrie didn`t do too badly either
dave 1961
Apr 2, 2011 at 7:15 PM
Comment #48he also knocked one off the line so an eventful 5 minutes, great day all round this gives us the momentum to see us across the finishing line
toonfan09
Apr 2, 2011 at 7:16 PM
Comment #49i think wiliamson was unsong hero today won everything aerially at the back not bad considering we got him for next to nothing as well
toonfan09
Apr 2, 2011 at 7:17 PM
Comment #50looking at replays it doesnt look as if it was heading goalwards it was going wide
toonfan09
Apr 2, 2011 at 7:21 PM
Comment #51Do people on here think we are safe now or do we need another win
Pigott93
Apr 2, 2011 at 7:30 PM
Comment #52I think we are as good as safe unless we collapse completely on our last games but 1 more win and we will be on 42 and safe..hopefullt we can get that against villa next week
thepict
Apr 2, 2011 at 9:42 PM
Comment #53One more point should do it, 3 to be safe
mark9403newcastle
Apr 2, 2011 at 10:02 PM
Comment #54Next game will be tought for our boys, I wasnt that worried missing Tiote today as Nolan and Guthrie had a great partnership last season esepcially since we were playing Wolves.
Next week without Nolan and Tiote will be tough. I imagine we will play Guthrie and Barton, both sit a bit deeper and there wont be anyone making forward runs which Nolan does effectively. I think we might draw but I honestly think we’ll be struggling attacking next week, especially since Ireland cant play!
Fantastic result but players have got to keep their nerve and temper under control as we get too many cards!
thepict
Apr 2, 2011 at 10:07 PM
Comment #55Didn’t SHephard want to build a casino and hotel when the big casino licence came up a few years ago?
cupiddstunt
Apr 3, 2011 at 12:42 AM
Comment #56Well done Strola the people on here that keep knocking him aught to wise up first goal from a Strola head on the second from a Strola header and this from someone fresh back from a smashed face.
Well done Strola well done.
singamagpie
Apr 3, 2011 at 6:15 AM
Comment #57I expect Barton and Guthrie to play on the centre with Raylor playing on the right next week.
bills-son
Apr 3, 2011 at 7:59 AM
Comment #58Another great display from Shola yesterday.
If that was Andy Carroll everyone would be raving about it.
One of Shola’s problems is that – like Chris Waddle before him – he has a leggy running style which makes him look a lot slower than he actually is. Thats why his knockers call him lazy – they are talking nonsense.
Shola isn’t a world beater but he is a very decent Premier forward. His other big problem is that probably a third of the games he has played for us he has either been less than a 100% fit. I don’t know what his goals from starts are (not inc sub appearances) but I bet its quite decent.
Colo and Barton were also magnificent yesterday and Ferguson was tremendous until he went off.