Nick Woltemade paid off the first instalment of his £69m transfer fee as he headed Newcastle to a first Premier League win of the season on his debut.
The 23-year-old Germany international needed just 29 minutes to find the back of the net for the first time at St James’ Park, some nine minutes quicker than Alexander Isak, the man he was signed in part to replace, managed it on his first outing for the Magpies at Liverpool in 2022.
For all a 1-0 victory was deserved, Eddie Howe’s men had to grind it out as Wolves, still to collect a single point this season, fought for some reward and, but for the excellence of goalkeeper Nick Pope, who made two vital early saves, they might have got some.
Newcastle will need to be significantly better if they are to emerge from their opening Champions League encounter with Barcelona on Thursday night with something to show for their efforts, but it was the result that mattered and Howe will feel the season is belatedly up and running.
If Newcastle had hoped for a fast start, they were fortunate not to concede twice inside the opening minutes when first Rodrigo Gomes saw his blistering shot tipped away by Pope before Hwang Hee-chan forced a second save from the resulting corner.
However, Jacob Murphy curled a fifth-minute attempt just wide from Woltemade’s lay-off and, with the former Stuttgart frontman operating as their fulcrum, the Magpies started to make an impression.
Keeper Sam Johnstone pulled off a fine reaction save to deny Murphy from point-blank range after Joelinton had flicked on Tino Livramento’s 13th-minute throw-in, but with Andre and Joao Gomes enjoying a measure of control in the middle of the field, the visitors were more than making a game of it.
Woltemade’s big moment arrived with 29 minutes gone when he rose above Emmanuel Agbadou at the far post to head Murphy’s cross firmly past Johnstone to formally announce himself on Tyneside.
Wolves might have been level four minutes before the break when the impressive Hugo Bueno, not for the first time, did well down the right and crossed for Rodrigo Gomes, who steered a glancing header wide of the far post.
But Murphy whistled a dipping strike just past Johnstone’s right post two minutes later after Woltemade’s industry and Bruno Guimaraes’ vision had allowed Kieran Trippier to set him up.
Sandro Tonali was unfortunate not to make it 2-0 in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time when his skidding left-footed drive came back off the foot of a post with Johnstone rooted to the spot.
The Magpies returned after the break with their tails still up and pinned the visitors back deep inside their own half, with full-backs Trippier and Livramento seeing plenty of the ball in advanced positions.
An increasingly scrappy affair remained in the balance as long as the hosts could not find a second goal, although Harvey Barnes fired over after running on to Guimaraes’ clever 74th-minute flick.
Wolves rallied as time ran down but, although they applied pressure, Pope remained largely untested.
