Newcastle moved 10 points clear of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton in the Premier League. (More Football News)
Chris Wood blasted home a 72nd-minute penalty, which he had earned, to liftඣ his team to the brink of safety.
The January signing's secoꦰnd goal in a black-and-white shirt piled the press𝔍ure on the teams below 14th-place Newcastle.
Wood, who became New Zealand's record scorer during last month's international break, had seen a 𝔍first-halfꩲ strike ruled out by VAR, but his decisive intervention ended his side's three-game losing streak.
It was little more than Eddie Howe's side — prompted throughout by the excellent Bruno Guimaraes — deserved on a night when Wolves rarely looked like claiming the three points needed to climb into the top six, until a la𒈔te flurry.
Watched by a crowd of more than 52,000 at St. James' Park, Newcastle thought it had taken a 24th-minute lead when a prone Wood fired home after Wolves had failed to clear Guimaraes' cross — after he and Miguel Almiron had cleverly exchanged passes. Although 🐈there was no offside flag, it was decided there should have been follow꧙ing a VAR review.
Wood finally got his chance with 18 min🌃utes remaining. After he had been upended by Jose Sa as he ran on to Joelinton's pass, Wood sent the goalkeeper the💛 wrong way from the spot to open the scoring.
Guimaraes might have made it 2-0, but saܫw his scuffed hit trickle just wide, but the lead was desperately fragile with Fabio Silva heading wastefully wide before being denied by a fine save from Martin Dubravka as time ran down.
