Daniel Podence 8, Raul Jimenez 6; Jacob Murphy 8; Allan Saint-Maximin 4: Wolves v Newcastle United player ratings

Magpies earn point after late free-kick at Molineux

WOLVES RATINGS: Rui Patricio - 6: Nearly wrong-footed by deflected Saint-Maximin shot in first half but got down well to save to his left. Very little to do and will be extremely frustrated at conceding late goal at near post from Murphy free-kick. EPA

Willy Boly - 7: Solid at the back for Wolves. His deflection of Saint-Maximin shot almost caught out own goalkeeper. Good challenge to take sting off Almiron shot on the hour. Reuters

Conor Coady - 7: Loves his diagonal passes out from the back with Semedo a favourite target down right in first half. Usual commanding performance at the back. Helped keep Wilson quiet but gave away free-kick for foul on Newcastle striker that led to their goal. PA

Max Kilman - 7: Vital recovery tackle on Wilson to deflect striker’s shot wide in first half and was part of good Wolves defensive performance. AP

Nelson Semedo - 6: Saw lots of the ball down the right flank early on and looked like he was going to be the main man for Wolves but his influence waned the longer the game went on. Reuters

Leander Dendoncker - 7: Anchored midfield well, tidying up effectively in front of the back four. Was furious when referee blew for half-time when he was lining up a shot from outside the box. EPA

Pedro Neto - 8: Caused Newcastle problems with his tricks and turns in first half cutting in from right. One particularly dangerous run then cross into middle cleared by Newcastle. Side-footed great chance over bar after half-time. PA

Ruben Neves - 6: Newcastle kept his influence to a minimum. Speculative long-range shot midway through second half easily saved by Darlow. Getty

Romain Saiss - 5: Solid down the left without offering much going forward. Caught out by Murphy on the hour mark handing attacking opportunity to Newcastle. Reuters

Daniel Podence - 8: Early shot from outside of box well saved by Darlow, another blazed well over. His dancing feet produced a lovely piece of skill before the break that left Murphy for dead and did same to Schar soon after. Laid great chance on plate to Neto that his teammate fired over. Surprisingly hooked with 20 minutes left. AP

Raul Jimenez - 6: Seemed to have left shooting boots at home with three wayward shots off target. Finally tested goalkeeper with 15 minutes but Darlow saved comfortably, then did find the net a few minutes later with good strike after finding room on edge of box. AP

SUBS: Adama Traore – (On for Podence 68’) 6: A couple of decent runs and crosses after coming on. Wasted as impact substitute and needs to be starting games. AP

Marcal - (On for Sais 68’) 5: Offered little threat down left. Joao Moutinho – (On for Neves 83’) N/A. AP

NEWCASTLE RATINGS: Karl Darlow - 6: Division's busiest goalkeeper quickly called into action with good early stop down low from Podence shot after five minutes. Barely had another save to make until 65th minute when he easily saved Neves’ shot. Should have done better with Jimenez goal, though, after getting one hand to it. Reuters

Fabian Schar - 7: Lost possession to a plastic bottle lying on the pitch in opening few minutes and found an even trickier opponent in Podence but former Blackburn man stuck to task and did well for Magpies. Reuters

Jamaal Lascelles - 7: Slow to close down Podence shot early on but generally a good performance from the captain. Vital headed clearance from Traore cross in second half and other important blocks. Limped off in closing few minutes which will be a big concern for Magpies manager Steve Bruce.

Federico Fernandez- 7: Nutmegged by Neto in opening quarter of an hour as he - and the other Newcastle defenders, to be fair - struggled to deal with the tricky Portuguese midfielder. Accidentally blocked Podence shot with his arm but would have been extremely harsh penalty. Good show from the Argentine. AFP

Jamal Lewis - 7: Full-back had to be on toes with all of Wolves early attacks coming down his left-hand side. Dealt well with Semedo and then jet-heeled substitute Traore when he came on. Reuters

Jeff Hendrick - 6: Played in central midfield role with Jonjo Shelvey out injured but lacks the passing skills of the former Liverpool and Swansea man. EPA

Ryan Fraser - 5: Couldn’t get his Bournemouth connection going with Wilson from right-hand side and his crossing was often far too close to goalkeeper. Disappointing first league start and has yet to find his feet for the Magpies. PA

Jacob Murphy - 8: Rare league start for the wideman and it was his good ball down right that set up Wilson for chance after 15 minutes. Almost put him through again 20 minutes later. Caught out Patricio with near-post free-kick to earn Newcastle late point. A huge bonus for Newcastle. PA

Miguel Almiron - 6: Back in the starting line-up but posed little threat in first half and picked stupid yellow card. Worked hard defensively but Newcastle need much more from the Paraguayan at the other end of the pitch. PA

Allan Saint-Maximin - 4: Touch and passing was woeful at times as the maverick man struggled to do the basics at Molineux. One good effort before break when his driving run and deflected shot forced first save out of Patricio. Poor decision-making and a frustrating evening for the Frenchman. EPA

Callum Wilson - 6: Showed his pace in first 20 minutes when he almost got clear of Wolves defence but Kilman deflected shot wide. Caught in possession five minutes after break and set Wolves off on dangerous counter-attack. Very isolated despite all of Newcastle’s attacking players. Won free-kick that led to goal. Getty

SUBS: Joelinton – (On for Fraser 78’) N/A. AP

Sean Longstaff - (On for Saint-Maximin 78’) N/A. Andy Carroll – (On for Lascelles 89’) N/A. Getty

Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce hailed Jacob Murphy after his first Premier League goal in nearly three years earned a point at Wolves.

The winger's late free-kick cancelled out Raul Jimenez's fourth goal of the season to grab a 1-1 draw.

Murphy's last top-flight strike came in January 2018 and he has since had loan spells at West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday after struggling to make a breakthrough following his move from Norwich in 2017.

But the manager praised his impact after playing him out of position at wing-back due to the Magpies' injury problems.

Bruce said: "He was arguably our best player today and I'm delighted for him. He had a big loan at Sheffield Wednesday last year and that did him the world of good.

"I never contemplated it [a loan move] from the first week he was back. He was a different player. Certainly physically he's come back in really good condition.

"We all know he's a good athlete and he certainly looks like he's matured. He had been practicing free-kicks on Thursday in training and I was thinking 'let's see if he can do it again'.

"The development is there for everybody to see."

Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo said: "I have to see the Newcastle goal again but the ball cannot go on that side of the wall, it cannot go in. If it goes over the wall we can deal with that but it cannot go in that side.

"We were without problems until we got the goal we deserved and then we should manage the game better."

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