Wolves (H) player ratings: Bruno Guimarães is stepping up when Newcastle United and Eddie Howe need him most

Newcastle United swept to a 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at St James' Park on Saturday afternoon, with Bruno Guimarães putting on a clinic in the centre of midfield.

The Brazilian was ably supported by the majestic Fabian Schär and relentless Anthony Gordon, while Tino Livramento also caught the eye after replacing the injured Kieran Trippier.

In truth, there wasn't a poor showing from anyone in home colours, though, with Martin Dúbravka solid, Sven Botman dependable, and Dan Burn occasionally marauding.

Joe Willock reminded us all of what we'd been missing during his absence, while Sean Longstaff put in his best showing for a while and Alexander Isak looked back on form.

Jacob Murphy had a big hand in our second goal and there were canny cameos from Miguel Almirón, Harvey Barnes, and Lewis Miley, plus another brief runout for Elliot Anderson.

Here's how we rated all 16 of the Newcastle players on show against Gary O'Neil's side, who were very decent opposition despite missing a number of key players in attack.

This was our best overall performance since the win at Villa Park

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Martin Dúbravka – 8

The big Slovakian wasn't called into action until the second half but he backed up his match-winning display at Ewood Park on Tuesday with another strong showing of shot-stopping. He looks as confident as he has done since first joining under Benítez, which is great to see.

Kieran Trippier (c) – 7

He was forced off in the 52nd minute with what Howe later described as a 'calf injury' but had probably been one of our weaker players up until that point, with his passing in particular pretty poor. This was still by no means a bad performance—and thankfully we've got Tino.

Fabian Schär – 9

Made a superb saving tackle on Neto at 0-0 when covering for Burn (and Botman) and set the move for the opener away magnificently with an interception and left-footed pass. He also began the move for our second and hit a raking ball out to Tino for the third. Majestic.

Sven Botman – 8

This was just the game the Dutchman needed after being rested for Blackburn and struggling badly in our previous two league outings. He won 75% of his duels, passed the ball incisively from the back, and only had one really difficult moment up against the electric Neto.

Dan Burn – 8

Burn had a very decent afternoon overall but really should have scored at 1-0 when played into the box by Gordon. He atoned for this somewhat when creating a big chance for Willock midway through the second half and was generally much more attacking than usual.

Sean Longstaff – 7

This was more of what we'd like to see from Longy, with his relentless running backed up with several good tackles in the middle of the park. He still had a minimal impact on the game in an attacking sense, but after 120 minutes in midweek, he deserves a rare bit of credit.

Bruno Guimarães – 9 ⭐️

Put in a lung-bursting run to support the attack for our opener, hitting a clean strike that was well blocked but looped up for Isak to head in. He also played the pass of the game when finding Almirón in behind late on, too, and put in a massive defensive shift. Soberbo!

Joe Willock – 8

Was tireless in his support of Burn in defence and Gordon in attack, and had a decent hand in our second goal when releasing Murphy down the right with a nicely weighted pass. He should have probably grabbed himself a goal from Burn's cross in the second half, though.

Jacob Murphy – 7

He's at his very best when he doesn't have to think and that was never clearer than for our second goal, where his dangerous first-time cross caused confusion between Kilman and José Sa and left Gordon with an easy finish. Wasn't brilliant otherwise, but he very rarely is.

Alexander Isak – 8

Showed strong poacher's instincts to open the scoring, making a good run that was ignored before following the flight of Bruno's deflected shot to nod home into an empty net. Also made a nuisance of himself for our second and pressed as energetically as he has for ages.

Anthony Gordon – 9

Had a massive hand in the opener, bursting forward down the left before slotting Bruno in for a shot at goal. He played Burn in soon after for another big chance, too, and then got the second goal himself when pouncing on Murphy's cross to side-foot home. What a player.

Having options on the bench makes such a big difference for us

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Tino Livramento – 9

He scored one of the best individual goals seen at St James' Park since the days of Hatem Ben Arfa and was otherwise excellent after replacing the injured Trippier after 52 minutes. He won 6/7 duels, completed 10/12 passes, and just seems totally unflustered by everything.

Harvey Barnes – 7

We're hoping for a Gordon-esque turnaround for Barnes after a disappointing first campaign on Tyneside and this cameo was miles better than his showing on Tuesday evening. He's still clearly on a different wavelength from his teammates, but he's barely played with them.

Miguel Almirón – 7

Miggy really should have scored the third when found brilliantly in behind the Wolves defence by Bruno, but was a bit slow in getting his effort away. While he didn't make anywhere near the impact he did at Ewood, he's a great option to have against tired legs.

Lewis Miley – 7

We're constantly surprised by his calmness and composure, to the point where like Livramento we don't worry at all when he comes into the action. It would be nice to see him given more chances on the right of the midfield three, which is where he initially impressed.

Elliot Anderson – 6

He replaced Gordon with a couple of minutes left in stoppage time and didn't even have a chance to get a touch of the ball. He looks very sharp and eager to impress, though, and it's easy to forget how well he did in pre-season and at the beginning of the campaign.

Next up for the Magpies is Chelsea away

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We owe this mob one after they snuck past us at this venue in the Carabao Cup quarter-final and then proceeded to choke big time against Liverpool's under-18 side at Wembley.

We haven't managed back-to-back league wins since the 8-0 away drubbing of Sheffield United and 2-0 home win over Burnley, though, so we're far from optimistic of three points.

Still, this isn't the Chelsea of old and if we were going away to any other side sitting 11th we'd be hopeful of a result. It's an 8 p.m. kick-off on Monday 11th March and will be live on Sky.

Howay the lads!