Wolverhampton Wanderers failed to continue their recent good form as they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Newcastle United this afternoon at St James Park.
Gary O’Neil had seen his side lose just twice in all competitions across the first two months of 2024, and they were slowly moving up the Premier League table, but the loss today will be a tough blow to take.
The Magpies scored twice in the first half through Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon, before Tino Livramento made sure all three points would be staying in Newcastle with the third.
Several key players failed to perform to the best of their ability and the defence were poor, especially Toti Gomes.
Toti Gomes’ game in numbers vs Newcastle
The centre-back has been in solid form this term under O’Neil, even earning his first-ever senior call up to the Portugal side back in November.
Against Newcastle, the 25-year-old was far from his best. He was only on the pitch for 59 minutes, yet the defender made zero tackles or interceptions, while winning zero ground duels during the clash against Eddie Howe’s men, showing how under par he was.
Accurate passes
43
Total duels won
1/3
Possession lost
14
Dribbled past
0
Tackles
0
Toti also completed just 81% of his attempted passes, lost possession 14 times and failed to find a teammate with all four of his long ball attempts, indicating a very poor day at the office for the Portuguese international.
He wasn’t the only one to have an off day, however, as Nelson Semedo was expected to provide an attacking threat from the right wing yet failed to make any meaningful attacking contribution.
Nelson Semedo’s statistics vs Newcastle
The former Barcelona defender has been utilised on the right side of the midfield this season as O’Neil has preferred a flat-back three, yet Semedo has failed to impress going forward.
He may have looked keen to get involved, taking 92 touches throughout the clash, but willingness and intent are two different things.
Unfortunately for Wolves, Semedo failed to have any intent as he delivered just one accurate cross from five attempts, succeeded with 50% of his dribble attempts, made two key passes and failed to deliver five of his six long ball attempts.
Defensively, however, he was equally as bad, losing possession on 22 occasions along with winning only seven of his 16 contested duels and being dribbled past once, suggesting that he failed to really have a positive influence at either end of the pitch.
The defeat is a mere blip for the club amid their recent wonderful run, yet with several important players failing to turn up and perform, this could become a concern if it were to happen on a regular basis.
The Midlands side face a clash against Fulham next weekend and bouncing back to claim all three points is a must if they are to secure a top-half finish in the top flight this season.
Toti and Semedo will need to put their displays behind them and regroup ahead of next week, otherwise another defeat could be a possibility.