Newcastle United earned a huge win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux, although they were immensely fortunate to escape without a hammering. Only Tim Krul stood between the visitors and a bevy of Wolves goals, and his heroics kept the Magpie's two-goal cushion intact until the last few minutes of the game. How they even got that two-goal advantage is anyone's guess - although Jonas Gutierrez's 38th minute strike was pure class, Demba Ba's earlier goal was simply a function of the Wolves defence not paying any attention, and by the time the hosts went behind they'd already had several chances of scoring. But hadn't, obviously.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Vs. Newcastle United, 2011 Premier League: Wolves Stumble Thanks To Tim Krul Heroics
The second half was a non-stop onslaught on Kurl's goal, with the Dutchman (and his defenders) flying about like a madman to keep Wolves off the board. Eventually, the hosts did get a goal with something like third 24th shot, Steven Fletcher heading home a cross by Adam Hammill, and although that came in the 88th minute it hardly seemed like too little too late with the amount of chances they were getting. In fact, they could easily have had an equaliser when Kevin Doyle stabbed home during injury time, but the linesman claimed that the ball had gone out of play already. It was a dubious decision, although truthfully no amount of video replay could have settled the matter conclusively.
While being denied that last goal will have stung Wolves fans deeply, the truth is that they could have won by three and nobody would have noticed. Krul put in a great performance, yes, but if the hosts had been a little sharper with their finishing, life would have been far easier for them. Newcastle go into 3rd with the win, and Wolves find themselves stumbling, with just one point from their last 15.
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