Magpies steal point at Wolves

Wolverhampton - Newcastle continued their positive start to life in the Premiership on Saturday after coming from a goal down to earn a point away at Wolverhampton.

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake looked to be sending the hosts to their second league win of the campaign with a superb first half strike but Andy Carroll's fourth goal in three league games meant the points were shared.

The Magpies soar to fourth in the table following their 6-0 demolition of Aston Villa in their last outing while Mick McCarthy's Wolves remain one place better off in third spot.

United's confidence gained from the Villa thrashing carried over into the early minutes with Sunday's hat-trick hero Carroll testing keeper Marcus Hahnemann with the game's first chance - but his effort lacked power.

The away team had all the early momentum with Wayne Routledge causing problems down the wing and he almost set up Joey Barton but the former Manchester City man just failed to reach a dangerous cross.

Magpies midfielder Kevin Nolan was next to threaten but his toe-poked effort was saved by Hahnemann.

However, it was the home team who fashioned the clearest cut opportunity of the game so far when Ebanks-Blake met David Jones's corner but his thumping header bounced back off the crossbar.

The close shave sparked the home team into life and they began to apply serious pressure on Steve Harper's goal, but the best chance of this spell fell to Carroll, who skied his close-range shot well over the bar.

Wanderer's pressure finally told on the stroke half-time when Ebanks-Blake made up for his earlier misfortune.

The powerhouse striker controlled a cross-field ball perfectly before shrugging off James Perch and smashing his shot past Harper to make it 1-0.

Promoted United showed no signs of being rattled by the goal and started the second half positively, restoring parity on the hour mark.

Barton swung in an inviting free-kick which Carroll met with a fine header, sending the ball into the top corner from the penalty spot.

Neither team could impose themselves on the increasingly physical encounter, but United came closest to sealing all three points when Hahnemann somehow clawed the ball off the line when a goal looked certain.