Hwang Hee-chan scores on returns from injury as Wolves lose to Newcastle

Hwang Hee-chan celebrates scoring the equalizer for Wolverhampton Wanderers in a game against Newcastle United at St. James' Park in Newcastle, England on Sunday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

It took Hwang Hee-chan roughly a minute to score his first league goal of the season on Sunday, bagging the consolation effort in Wolverhampton Wanderers’ 2-1 loss to Newcastle United at St. James’ Park in Newcastle.

Hwang returned from injury in fantastic form on Sunday, stepping on to a Premier League pitch for the first time since he went down with hamstring problems on Feb. 4 and scoring one minute later.

The goal snaps a long league cold streak that has extended for more than a year for the Korean midfielder.

Newcastle struck first on Sunday, pulling ahead in the 21st minute with a goal from Alexander Isak following a well-placed Kieran Trippier free kick.

That goal came just a minute after Wolves were unlucky to miss out on what looked like an obvious penalty when Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope brought down Raúl Jiménez in the box. Television reviews showed what appeared to be a certain foul, but a VAR review ruled there was no penalty and play continued.

That narrow 1-0 lead held until the second half, when Hwang came on for Daniel Podence in his first appearance for Wolves in six weeks. His chance came one minute later after a bumbling attempt at a clearance set Hwang up for an easy effort on goal.

Receiving the ball on the edge of the box, Hwang took a couple of touches to beat two Newcastle defenders, nut-megging one in the process, to get into striking distance and slide the ball through to Jiménez.

The Mexican forward was squeezed out by Trippier and Pope, with the ball rolling out of the three-way collision and rolling to Hwang’s feet with nothing but empty goal in front of him. Hwang quickly slotted the ball home to make it 1-1.

Despite Hwang’s effort, Newcastle did not waste much time before they pulled ahead again, Miguel Almiron slotting in No. 2 in the 79th minute as Wolves took an overly defensive posture following the equalizer.

With the loss, Wolves sit in 13th place while Newcastle move up to fifth and just two points behind Tottenham Hotspur in fourth.

Speaking after the game, Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui slammed the VAR decision and hinted at concerns about referee Andrew Madley, who also presided over the Liverpool FA Cup game where Wolves were denied a late winner in January.

““It was a very clear penalty and red card, but VAR didn’t do anything and I don’t know why,” Lopetegui said. “It was a pity. We are very unlucky with Andrew, at Liverpool and here too.

“After, they pushed a lot and they are a good team. We balanced the match and deserved more, but it’s true that it could have been different with a penalty. It was very clear and it’s a pity because we’re fighting relegation and it was very important. VAR can help more in this case, but the match is finished, we lost and we have to look for the next match. This is done.”

Despite his anger over the decision, Lopetegui admitted Wolves need to do more in big moments.

“It’s always difficult to accept a defeat because you want to win all the matches. It’s difficult but we have to do it and we have to improve and to continue working for the next match. I don’t know if we deserved more. If it was just the second-half, then yes, but in the first-half, they were better than us. We hit the post and after a very clear penalty, which was a pity.

“In the first-half, they overcame us but in the second-half we improved a lot and we changed many things, we overcame them, we deserved to score and in the end we should have drawn the match.”

Wolves will be back in action on Saturday as they take on Leeds United in the Premier League.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]