Wolverhampton Wanderers were knocked out of the EFL Cup at the hands of Newcastle United at St. James’ Park on Tuesday evening.
It was a reversal of fortunes for Wolverhampton Wanderers at St. James’ Park on Tuesday as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United in the third round of the EFL Cup.
Walter Zenga’s side beat the Magpies by the same scoreline in the league just days earlier but two goals in the space of three first-half minutes from Matt Ritchie and Yoan Gouffran saw the hosts claim a comfortable victory as they advanced to the fourth round.
Here are Wolves’ hits and misses from the match…
Hits
Ola John
The Dutch debutant was introduced into the match at half-time with Wanderers already two goals down but he remained a constant threat for 45 minutes with his pace and control on the ball.
He was unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet as well, as United stopper Karl Darlow was equal to his close-range effort following a great passage of play from the away side.
A performance like this should but him in good contention for a start against Brentford on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
Dominic Iorfa
The young centre-back was excellent once again at St. James’ Park as he nullified the threat of the experienced Daryl Murphy comfortably.
The Magpies enjoyed little success through the middle and Iorfa is a big reason why as his no-nonsense approach and aerial ability left his goalkeeper Andy Lonergan with little to do as the majority of attacks came through Matt Ritchie down the right flank.
Overall, Iorfa didn’t really deserve to be on the losing side as two quickfire goals caught his teammates out, but the 21-year-old’s display was certainly one of the biggest positives to take away.
Walter Zenga
It wasn’t the best night for Wolves but the fact that Zenga has managed his side to face Newcastle – the team with arguably the best squad in the Championship – twice in the space of a few days and still managed to pick up a win in the important league match can only be considered a success.
Realistically Wolves were not going to win the EFL Cup so to prioritise the league and pick up some valuable points while still managing to field a somewhat competitive side just a few days later shows good management, even if his side did lose the second match.
Misses
Jed Wallace
Wallace wasn’t too bad throughout the match but his early chance to give Wolves the lead was badly fluffed as he hit his one-on-one effort straight at Newcastle keeper Darlow and the hosts went on to score soon after.
Had Wallace put his chance away it could have been an entirely different game but it was not to be as United quickly went 2-0 up before half-time.
The wideman also should have done better to track Gouffran’s run for the second goal as the Frenchman ran in and hit a superb flying volley to double the Magpies’ lead just after the half-hour.
Joe Mason
Mason truly missed his chance to impress Zenga with a pretty anonymous performance at St. James’ Park as he struggled to get into the game at all.
The 25-year-old was up against a Newcastle defence made up entirely of new signings yet he failed to get a sniff up front as the home side ran out as easy winners.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson
After a good performance at the weekend, the Manchester United loanee looked oddly out of his depth just a few days later as he struggled to deal with the persistent threat of Matt Ritchie.
Both of Newcastle’s goals came down his side as he was caught out of position and failed to recover twice in the space of two minutes.
Still, it will be a good learning experience for the youngster and one that will surely only make him tougher and improve as a player.
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