Hwang Hee-Chan maintained his record of having scored in every home game this season as Wolves were fuelled by a sense of injustice to fight back for a draw.
After Callum Wilson’s sharp finish for Newcastle was cancelled out by Mario Lemina’s first goal for Wolves, Wolves were left seething by a controversial penalty converted by Wilson on the stroke of half-time.
Fabian Schar fell as Hwang tried to clear the ball and VAR took an age whether to send referee Anthony Taylor to the monitor to check his penalty decision.
They didn’t and Wilson tucked away his seventh goal of the season leaving Wolves boss Gary O’Neil furious and home fans singing “Premier League..corrupt as f***” for the remainder of the game.
The anger felt by Wolves became a motivator as they pressed for an equaliser which duly arrived when Hwang fired home after 71 minutes – his fifth goal in five outings at Molineux.
It also meant both teams preserved their unbeaten Premier League runs. Wolves haven’t lost in five, Newcastle in six.
Eddie Howe’s side arrived in the west Midlands without Sandro Tonali as he began a 10-month worldwide ban for breaching betting rules.
But those present served up an unlikely feast of entertainment.
From the first moment when Pedro Neto showed Dan Burn and Fabian Schar a clean pair of heels in the pouring rain, you couldn’t take your eyes off it.
Newcastle’s injury list includes Alexander Isak, Sven Botman and Harvey Barnes in addition to Tonai’s but they still went for it.
Sean Longstaff wasn’t far away after breaking into the box. Wolves were also dangerous with Mattheus Cunha unable to capitalise on a sloppy pass by Kieran Trippier.
The visitors went ahead after 22 minutes as Wilson showed razor-sharp reflexes.
Jose Sa made a mess of trying to punch away Antony Gordon’s cross, running into Longstaff and his own player Boubacar Traore and spilling the ball.
Wilson saw his first effort blocked by Toti but swivelled to hook the rebound into the corner at chest height.
It was Wilson’s sixth goal of the season and a useful reminder to Gareth Southgate that Ollie Watkins isn’t the only candidate to be Harry Kane’s understudy with England.
Wolves used their frustration positively. Hwang tested Pope with a decent left-foot strike and from the resulting Neto corner Lemina powered in a header for the 36th-minute equaliser.
It was the midfielder’s first goal in a year and a day when he netted for French club Nice and put Neto top of the Premier League assists charts for the season with No7.
Newcastle regained the lead in dramatic circumstances. Trippier’s corner to the near post was miscontrolled by Schar who then raced towards Hwang to try and retrieve.
As Hwang drew back his foot to clear, he and Schar made contact with each other – the Swiss defender falling to the ground.
Referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot and VAR stuck with it even though some angles suggested Schar had trod on Hwang first.
To rub salt into the Wolves wound, Sa got a hand to Wilson’s penalty but was unable to stop it creeping into the net.
There was increasing jeopardy in the second half on a skiddy pitch and a home crowd fired up.
O’Neil sent on Tommy Doyle for Traore to try and crank up the pressure. Neto ran at Dan Burn at every opportunity and from one cutback Pope did well to smother a shot by Cuhna.
Burn was booked for blocking off Neto as Newcastle tried to hold what they had, looking fatigued by their Champions League efforts against Dortmund in midweek.
When Wolves levelled, the roof almost came off Molineux. Toti surged into the area and slipped a pass into Hwang.
The South Korean cut inside a sliding challenge by Burn and rifled a low finish into Pope’s near post like a forward full of confidence.
There was a sad footnote when the excellent Neto was carried off on a stretcher in the 77th minute having appeared to hurt his hamstring. The Portuguese player has suffered serious knee and ankle injuries in the past two years and everyone in old gold will hope it won’t be another long lay-off.
