Newcastle's unbeaten start to the season continued in a 2-1 victory, but Wolves were left furious with the match officials.
Match officials under scrutiny, as McCarthy's men suffer another loss
Newcastle's unbeaten start to the season continued in a 2-1 victory at Molineux, but Wolves were left furious by what will be viewed as an unjust defeat at the hands of the match officials.
First-half goals from Demba Ba, who followed last weekend's hat-trick against Blackburn, and Jonas Gutierrez, who has committed to a new contract, gave Alan Pardew's side a comfortable lead.
But replays suggested Mick McCarthy's Wolves should have had a penalty before the interval when Newcastle defender Steven Taylor collided with Jamie O'Hara inside the 18-yard area.
Steven Fletcher's header set up a tense finish, but Wolves suffered further misfortune in injury-time when a Kevin Doyle effort was controversially ruled out by referee Mark Halsey and his assistants on the apparent basis the ball had gone out of play in the build-up.
Inside the first 13 minutes it was evident as to why Newcastle can proudly boast the stingiest defence in the top flight, the Magpies conceding just four goals now in their first seven matches.
With less than two minutes on the clock, Dutchman Tim Krul underlined his growing reputation, in particular as the bedrock of United's back five.
With O'Hara's 22-yard curling free-kick dipping towards the bottom right-hand corner after evading a number of heads, an alert Krul averted the danger with a full-stretch save.
Eleven minutes later, Krul showed remarkable versatility, and kept his wits about him as he used his face to block an attempted lob from Doyle on the edge of the area after the striker had been played in by a knock-on to a goal-kick from Wayne Hennessey.
Threat
But for those two saves the outcome could have been very different as the visitors had showed no threat in the opening exchanges.
After Gutierrez then stroked a low, right-foot curler a couple of yards wide in the 14th minute, three minutes later Ba caught Wolves' defence, and goalkeeper Hennessey, fast asleep.
From a Yohan Cabaye corner looped into the near post, nobody picked up Ba's run, and as Hennessey came to collect, the striker stole in for a simple nod down from two yards for his fourth goal in two games following his match-winning hat-trick against Blackburn last Saturday.
Wolves could have drawn level immediately, but again Krul was the difference, this time displaying his speed and agility.
Diving to his left to another Doyle strike, Krul was forced to use his outstretched right foot to make the all-important save with the effort deflecting off Taylor.
From the rebound it was the other Taylor in Newcastle's defence, Ryan, who then bravely threw himself in the way of Matt Jarvis' follow up.
Again it proved crucial because after Hennessey denied Cheik Tiote from 25 yards and Gutierrez scuffed a Danny Simpson cross at the near post when it appeared easier to score, the Argentine at least made amends soon after.
Lifeline
With Wolves struggling to escape their own half, Gutierrez picked up a stray pass from Karl Henry, who was later ironically cheered by the home fans when he was substituted on the hour due to his recent poor performances.
Gutierrez first evaded three tackles before cutting inside skipper Roger Johnson, prior to applying a cool incisive finish with a left-foot shot beyond Hennessey from 12 yards.
Wolves then went into the dressing room at the break knowing it was not going to be their day when referee Halsey turned away two penalty appeals in a matter of minutes.
The first was obvious as Steven Taylor's challenge on O'Hara was inside the area, only for Halsey to award a free-kick outside, to the frustration of all within the Wolves' camp.
The boos at the half-time whistle from the home faithful signalled the dejection at their side's continuing slide following a positive start to the campaign when they began with two victories.
After the break Wolves were the better side, more aggressive and purposeful, although they should have been 3-0 down in the 65th minute, only for Ba to curl inches wide a low shot.
With Wolves in desperate need of a lifeline, they then found Krul at his best in pulling off a double save in a matter of seconds to thwart Fletcher and 58th-minute substitute Adam Hammill.
It was not until three minutes from time Krul was finally beaten, with Fletcher making it eight goals in his last 12 league games with a diving header onto a Hammill cross.
Then in the first of five minutes added time, Wolves thought they had grabbed a dramatic equaliser.
However, Doyle's close-range stab was ruled out as the cross in the build-up was adjudged to have gone over the dead-ball line.
| Wolverhampton Wanderers |
Team Statistics |
Newcastle United |
| 1 |
Goals |
2 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
2 |
| 7 |
Shots on Target |
5 |
| 12 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 7 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 10 |
Corners |
5 |
| 8 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
8 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 75.8 |
Passing Success |
76.1 |
| 13 |
Tackles |
11 |
| 76.9 |
Tackles Success |
81.8 |
| 53.7 |
Possession |
46.3 |
| 56.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
43.9 |
|
