The visitors made a shaky start to proceedings, as Wolves enjoyed most of the early running. However, the Magpies quickly grew into the game and took the lead in the 18th minute when Demba Ba glanced home a near post header from Yohan Cabaye's well placed corner.
Cabaye has been in sterling form since joining from French side Lille, and it was another good outing from the French international, as he and central midfield partner Cheick Tiote controlled the game for much of the 1st half.
Newcastle doubled their lead just over 20 minutes later thanks to a spectacular solo goal from Jonas Gutierrez. The Argentine, who has just signed a new four year contract with the club, evaded the challenges of several Wolves' defenders before slotting home beautifully with his a left footed strike into the bottom corner of the net.
The visitors' commanding lead remained in tact until the 88th minute when Steven Fletcher headed home at the far post from Adam Hammil's cross. Controversy followed as Kevin Doyle looked have snatched a dramatic equaliser for the home side when he poked home Matt Jarvis' knock back, however the linesman adjudged that the ball was out of play when Jarvis made contact.
That decision denied Wolves' what would have been a hard earned point, and the home fans will feel aggrieved not to have taken something from the game as they were also denied a penalty when Referee Mark Halsey ruled that Steven Taylor's foul on Jamie O'Hara occurred outside the 18 yard box.
A draw would not have been overly harsh on Newcastle, as their 2nd half performance was in marked contrast to their 1st half display. Pardew's charges sought to protect their comfortable advantage and did so with consummate ease for the majority of the final 45 minutes. Wolves continued to press however, and Newcastle's resistance began to wilt, forcing Goalkeeper Tim Krul to make a number of smart saves before Fletcher finally managed to beat the Dutchman.
Despite this it would not be unfair to say that Newcastle were worthy of their win. They dominated most facets of the game in the first 45, Ba and strike partner Leon Best causing the Wolves defence plenty of problems with their hold up play and movement off the ball. Cabaye and Tiote seem to have formed a highly formidable partnership in the centre of midfield, while the back four defended well up until the frantic spell of Wolves pressure in the dying minutes.
The disappointing factors in Newcastle's performance stemmed from their 2nd half tactics and substitutions, although the Magpies had chances to kill the game off they never actively seemed to search for the third goal that would have ended the game as a contest. On the contrary Newcastle seemed content to sit back and invite Wolves to attack their goal.
The changes made by Pardew also proved to be questionable, the introduction of Peter Lovenkrands added nothing to Newcastle's attacking threat while Danny Guthrie was also brought on late in the game but made no impact as Wolves continued to throw caution to wind in attack.
Pardew's substitutions were questionable, not for the players he did bring on, but for the players he chose to leave on the bench, specifically Hatem Ben Arfa and Sylvain Marveaux. The French duo offer the Magpies more options going forward. Both are able to play on either side of midfield, while Ben Arfa is also comfortable playing in the hole just behind a main striker.
Deploying the former Marseille man in this position could have aided Newcastle's cause in two areas. Firstly it would have enabled them to maintain their attacking impetus, and secondly it would have handed them the luxury of an extra man in midfield to protect against the threat posed by the home side.
Fans will debate Pardew's tactical decisions at length, while analysts and so called experts will argue over the questionable decisions made by Halsey and his assistants ad naseum. In spite of all of this there can be no doubt that Newcastle's start to the season has been nothing short of sensational, the Toon are enjoying their best start to a season for 17 years and are vitally still unbeaten after the first 7 games of the campaign.
Pre-season skepticism has been washed away by a wave of optimism, the most exciting aspect of Newcastle's start to the season is that there is still room for Pardew's side to improve. If those improvements are made then it could be a very enjoyable campaign on Tyneside.
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