Woltemade off to perfect Newcastle start as header seals three points

WOLT about that for a debut!

It took less than half an hour for Nick Woltemade to show there’s life after Alexander Isak as the giant German became an instant Newcastle hero.

3 Nick Woltemade got off to the perfect start at Newcastle Credit: Getty

3 He netted on his debut with a header against Wolves Credit: Reuters

3 It was a huge boost for Newcastle after losing Alexander Isak Credit: PA

Toon’s £69million club-record signing produced a dream debut by heading the Magpies to a first win of the season.

But it was the same old story for sorry Wolves as they were punished for failing to take their chances.

Vitor Pereira’s men remain rock bottom and pointless as the pressure builds on the Portuguese coach.

For all the doom and gloom surrounding Molineux, it was joy on Tyneside as Eddie Howe’s team finally got their campaign up-and-running.

And it could not have been better for the Newcastle boss or his 6ft 6in big money buy from Stuttgart.

It was just like old times when Toon had Swede Isak leading the line.

Assist king Jacob Murphy provided the inch-perfect cross, and Woltemade was in the perfect place, outjumping Emmanuel Agbadou to nod home from six yards to send St James’ wild.

It was exactly what the 23-year-old would have dreamed about, and you could not help but feel somewhat pleased for Howe given his torrid summer on the striker front.

Despite eventually splashing out £124m on Woltemade and Yoane Wissa to replace Isak after missing out on a host of forwards, the curse continued this week when the latter’s bow was put on ice due to a knee injury while on international duty with DR Congo.

That only piled more pressure and expectation on Woltemade - and he did not disappoint.

However, Wolves almost spoiled the party inside eight seconds, attacking straight from kick-off as Rodrigo Gomes’ strike was tipped wide by Nick Pope .

Moments later and the goalie was called into action again, this time denying Hwang Hee-Chan an opener.

It was a sloppy start by the hosts, and but for a curling Murphy effort wide, they were struggling to lay a glove on the visitors.

While all the talk pre-game was about Woltemade, Wolves had their own goliath making his debut.

Nigerian man mountain Tolu Arokodare, 6ft 6in himself, was handed his first start following his £24m from Genk.

But, for some interesting battles with another Geordie giant Dan Burn , he made little impact in his 66 minutes on the field with Fabian Schar snuffing out his best opportunity with a fine sliding clearance.

Something must change soon in front of goal for Pereira to turn round their dreadful start.

And you could see he was pulling his hair out along with attacker Hee-Chan when Ladislav Krejci went for glory instead of pulling it back for the South Korean.

At least his keeper Sam Johnstone was at the races, brilliantly denying Murphy from close-range, while they still had their opportunities up the other end as Rodrigo Gomes headed Hugo Bueno’s cross wide.

Then came Woltemade’s big moment. And you could see from the second he went for it that that ball was only destined for one place.

The roar was deafening. Willkommen to Newcastle.

Murphy smacked another chance wide while Tonali watched agonisingly as his drive smashed off the inside of the post and bounced clear

For all the openness of the opening period, it was a non event in the second.

Harvey Barnes was closer to the net 14 miles away at the Stadium of Light than he was the one in front of Gallowgate with the only real chance.

Not that Howe and the Toon Army will care one jot about that now. It wasn’t pretty, but it mattered little.

Woltemade got his standing ovation when he was replaced on 65 minutes and the Magpies are up-and-running as they prepare to face the might of Barcelona in midweek.

But for Pereira, it’s back to the drawing board as he looks to end their dire form at home to Leeds next weekend.