Newcastle United extended their Premier League winning streak to six matches and climbed into the top four as Alexander Isak's outstanding form continued in a 3-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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Isak scored a goal in each half at St James' Park, with his 34th-minute opener making him just the fourth different player to net in eight successive Premier League matches.
Wolves twice hit the woodwork through Jorgen Strand Larsen and saw a late Santiago Bueno goal overturned by VAR for handball, but some poor defending proved costly for the visitors.
Isak added an assist for Anthony Gordon's goal as Newcastle leapfrogged Chelsea to go fourth in the table.
Eddie Howe's Magpies are just three points behind third-placed Nottingham Forest, while Wolves slip below Ipswich Town on goal difference and into the relegation zone, ahead of Ipswich hosting Brighton and Hove Albion on Thursday.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
20 | +28 | 47 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
21 | +22 | 43 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
21 | +10 | 41 |
| 4 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
21 | +15 | 38 |
| 5 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
21 | +15 | 37 |
| 6 |
Man City
MCI
|
21 | +9 | 35 |
How the match unfolded
Jacob Murphy fired two early warning shots, with Jose Sa brilliantly thwarting the Magpies winger from close range on one occasion, before Isak took centre stage.
After a promising Wolves break collapsed in the 34th minute, he fired home the opener via a big deflection off Rayan Ait-Nouri.
The visitors went close to levelling just before half-time as Larsen struck the outside of the post from 12 yards out following good work from Rodrigo Gomes.
But Newcastle stepped things up in the second half, with Isak finding space to take in Bruno Guimaraes' clever pass and finish from the centre of the box for 2-0.
Isak then took advantage of more slack Wolves defending to tee up Gordon for a tap-in in the 74th minute.
Wolves could not launch a fightback, with Bueno's close-range finish chalked off when a VAR review found he had handled the ball immediately before scoring, while Strand Larsen saw a late effort tipped onto the crossbar by Martin Dubravka.
Murphy the unsung hero
The headlines will all go to Isak after he scored in an eighth successive Premier League game, a feat only previously achieved by Jamie Vardy (twice), Ruud van Nistelrooy (twice) and Daniel Sturridge.
Gordon joined the Swede on the scoresheet late on, but they were not the only Newcastle attackers to make an impact, with Murphy putting in another energetic performance on the right-hand side.
Howe's men continually targeted Wolves' left-hand side in the early stages, and if not for a brilliant reflex save from Sa, Murphy would have hit a 24th-minute opener.
That approach continued to pay dividends after the break, and the moves for Newcastle's second and third goals were both started on the right flank and finished from the left side of the box.
The right side of Newcastle's attack was viewed as a question mark at the start of the campaign as Murphy prepared to battle for minutes with Harvey Barnes and Miguel Almiron.
However, Murphy has enjoyed an excellent season to date and, despite not getting among the goals on Wednesday, he should get another chance to impress against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
Cunha comeback a positive for Wolves
In Wolves' previous league outing they suffered the first setback of the Vitor Pereira era as they went down 3-0 to surprise package Forest.
Star forward Matheus Cunha missed that one through suspension, and he made his return from the bench here, replacing Hwang Hee-chan at half-time after the South Korean struggled to make an impact.
Wolves did manage a few dangerous forays forward without Cunha on the pitch, with Goncalo Guedes dragging one shot wide from a promising position prior to Strand Larsen striking the woodwork for the first time.
The visitors continued to generate opportunities in the second half, with Cunha seeing one effort flash wide of the bottom-right corner, while he also teed up fellow substitute Pablo Sarabia to fire straight at Dubravka late on.
But Wolves' problems this season have predominantly come at the other end of the field. While there was more than a hint of fortune about Isak's first goal, he could hardly have wished for an easier second, being played onside by Emmanuel Agbadou and left totally free near the penalty spot by Bueno.
Cunha's return is a major positive for Wolves, but they must improve at the other end of the pitch if they are to get out of trouble, particularly with a trip to Chelsea up next on Monday.
Club reports
Newcastle report | Wolves report
What the managers said
Eddie Howe: "We had to be patient and we had to play a different way slightly. We had a lot of the ball in the first half, we knew Wolves would be stubborn opponents. We got a lucky break with the first goal but overall I think we deserved it.
"Depending on how the game pans out you need different ways to win. The first goal was so important today, we had a few scares today, Wolves are difficult to play against.
"Overall can't be too picky, it is nine wins in a row now. We know we can play better than today, we did enough of the detailed work to get the win. There's a lot to be positive about and a lot to improve."
Vitor Pereira: "Proud of my players, we tried to get the result. The difference between one team and the other team, when we had the chance to score we missed and they scored. Against this kind of team, one mistake is one goal.
"When they made mistakes and we had the chance to score we didn't. We try every time to learn from the situations and not allow counterattacks with this kind of team.
"We created six clear chances to score, maybe. We will recover, prepare the next game with the same spirit but increasing the level. The team tried to be compact, it tried to pressure them in the right moments. I am proud of the players, we will recover and think about the next game."
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Match facts
Newcastle United have won nine consecutive games in all competitions, equalling their club record; they also won nine in a row between May and September 1994 and September and November 2016.
Newcastle’s Alexander Isak became the fourth player in Premier League history to score in eight consecutive appearances, after Ruud van Nistelrooy (twice for Man Utd), Jamie Vardy (twice for Leicester) and Daniel Sturridge (for Liverpool).
Wolves have lost all four of their away Premier League games against Eddie Howe’s Newcastle, losing under a different manager every time – Bruno Lage in 2021-22, Julen Lopetegui in 2022-23, Gary O’Neil in 2023-24 and Vítor Pereira today.
