Nuno Espirito Santo wants his side to be “more clinical” after Newcastle’s late equaliser denied Wolves a third consecutive win.
Jacob Murphy’s 89th-minute free-kick rescued a point for Newcastle shortly after Wolves had taken the lead through Raul Jimenez.
Newcastle midfielder Murphy bent his low effort around the wall and just inside the post past goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
It was just the second shot on target from the visitors in a match in which they had 63% of possession.
“We were patient, we were a threat, we didn’t concede many chances and it is a game that we should finish with a victory,” said Nuno.
Jimenez had fired home with 10 minutes to go of what had been a lacklustre encounter that Wolves had dominated for long stretches.
Both sides managed just one shot on target in the first half, and while Wolves seemed the likelier to take three points they had to settle for a point that takes them into eighth.
“The mistake is that we need to be more clinical,” Nuno added. “We had many chances but we did not test the goalkeeper too many times. We were the better team.”
Newcastle remain in 14th after the fourth consecutive 1-1 result between the two clubs.
Karl Darlow saved Daniel Podence’s shot in the sixth minute in what turned out to be Wolves’ best chance of the first half, while Allan Saint-Maximin’s effort pushed away by Patricio just before the break was Newcastle’s first attempt on target.
Blocks by Jamaal Lascelles and Federico Fernandez to deny Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto typified a dogged display by the away side in the second half, and they battled back strongly after Jimenez’s fine goal had seemed set to send them home empty-handed.
Wolves lived up to the statistic that says they are the Premier League’s slowest starters, failing to score in the first half for the 58th time — more than any other side in the top flight.
Podence forced Darlow into a save low to his left after six minutes, but after that the home side failed to make the most of having nearly two-thirds of the possession.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side showed was more urgency after the break, and even had vague hopes of a penalty shout for handball when Fernandez got in the way of Podence’s effort, but replays showed the Newcastle defender could have done nothing to get the back of his arm out of the way.
Jimenez’s excellent shot from just outside the area from a corner had enough power behind it to take it in off Darlow’s left hand, giving Wolves’ leading scorer his fourth of this campaign and what seemed to be the game’s decisive moment.
But with their next three games all against sides near them in the table — versus Crystal Palace, Leicester and Southampton — Nuno will be keen for his team to finish off sides when they have the chance.
