Chris Wood penalty sinks Wolves and eases Newcastle’s relegation fears

Eyebrows were raised when Newcastle United triggered the £25m release clause in Chris Wood’s contract in January.

The consensus was that Eddie Howe had overpaid but it seemed money very well spent here as Wood’s second-half penalty lifted his new side to the heady heights of 14th in the Premier League, virtually extinguishing Tyneside’s fears of Championship football next season.

Bruno Lage’s Wolves arrived with loftier aims but paid the price for an appalling lack of ambition and were fortunate not to fall behind in the first half when Wood had a goal disallowed.

With Newcastle inhabiting the often hazardous borderland between relegation waters and mid-table terra firma and Wolves sitting right on the margin separating European qualification from the also ranks there was plenty at stake.

If the absence of arguably the visitors’ two best players; the suspended Raúl Jiménez and the injured Rúben Neves offered home fans cause for cautious optimism, Howe was suitably wary. It was not just that his side needed to arrest a run of three straight defeats but that their 5-1 thrashing at Tottenham last Sunday had been alarmingly comprehensive.

Newcastle’s manager claimed that his team were now playing for their futures and had seen “another side” to him in training this week but he resisted making wholesale changes. Indeed with Bruno Guimãraes replacing the injured Joe Willock the only unforced alteration saw Emil Krafth take over from Javier Manquillo at right back.

By the 12th minute though Howe had no option but to shuffle his pack, sending the latterly little-used Miguel Almirón on in place of the hamstrung Ryan Fraser.

At this stage it had become clear Lage’s side were on a mission to draw the sting from Newcastle’s early