Almiron secures victory as Newcastle rise to fifth

Almiron secures victory as Newcastle rise to fifth



NEWCASTLE (Reuters) - Miguel Almiron came off the bench to secure a 2-1 victory for Newcastle United over Wolverhampton Wanderers to move them into fifth place in the Premier League on Sunday.

Left out of the starting line-up by manager Eddie Howe, Almiron got his chance in the 68th minute and made his mark 11 minutes later with a superbly-taken goal to boost Newcastle's top-four hopes.

Record signing Alexander Isak had given Newcastle the lead with a powerful header after 26 minutes although they were perhaps fortunate not to be down to 10 men after keeper Nick Pope appeared to take down Raul Jimenez in the box earlier.

To add to Wolves' frustration Pope made several top-quality saves and Daniel Podence fired a shot against the post.

But the visitors did equalise when a slip by Kieran Trippier, as he tried to clear the ball, allowed substitute Hwang Hee-chan the easiest of finishes in the 70th minute.

Newcastle hung on to claim their first league win in six league matches to overtake Liverpool with 44 points from 25 games -- four behind Tottenham Hotspur with two games in hand.

Wolves remain in 13th place, three points above the relegation zone.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)