Newcastle United missed the opportunity of moving to within one point of fourth-placed Liverpool with Sunday's goalless draw at bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Eddie Howe's side arrived at Molineux knowing a victory could propel them up to fifth in the table, into a potential UEFA Champions League spot, but they were flat in attack for much of the contest.
The draw extended Wolves' unbeaten run to four Premier League matches, but they remain rooted to the foot of the table.
Nick Woltemade passed up Newcastle's best chance in the first half, while Kieran Trippier went close from a free-kick in the second period.
But for all their possession, Howe's side did not register a shot on target until the 85th minute, when Jose Sa made a sharp double save to deny Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton.
Newcastle are eighth in the table, three points adrift of the top four, while Wolves remain bottom, with a 14-point gap between them and 17th-placed Nottingham Forest.
How the match unfolded
The first big chance went Newcastle's way as Woltemade miscued his header from Harvey Barnes' cross, though Wolves had several bright moments on the counter-attack.
Jackson Tchatchoua's centre was cut out before it could reach Mateus Mane, who also sent an acrobatic volley over his own shoulder and into the gloves of goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Newcastle were in the ascendancy by the end of the first half, though Hugo Bueno almost struck against the run of play when his stoppage-time curler brushed the roof of the net.
The Magpies cranked up the pressure after the break and were unfortunate to see Barnes' cross go without a touch following a sensational backheel from Guimaraes, while Trippier's 25-yard free-kick fizzed agonisingly wide of Sa's left post.
Guimaraes was the first Newcastle player to truly test Sa with an angled volley, while Joelinton's follow-up header was held by the Wolves 'keeper.
One last half-chance fell Guimaraes' way in the sixth and final minute of stoppage time, but he skewed his volley well wide as the spoils were shared.
More positives for Edwards as Wolves' upturn continues
A great escape from relegation still looks highly unlikely for Wolves, but Rob Edwards certainly deserves credit for instilling some positivity at Molineux in recent weeks.
Last week's 6-1 FA Cup rout of Shrewsbury Town came on the back of draws at Manchester United and Everton, with a 3-0 home dismantling of West Ham United sandwiched in between.
And it was evident from the start of Sunday's game that Wolves are now operating with a new level of confidence – Joao Gomes and Andre showed plenty of neat touches in midfield, while there was a sense of anticipation every time 18-year-old Mane got on the ball.
Mane's ability to pop up between the lines and receive possession on the turn gave Newcastle problems to solve, but Wolves' final pass was narrowly off – the youngster almost found Tolu Arokodare with an eye-of-the-needle ball, while Tchatchoua and Bueno were both close to picking out team-mates with early deliveries from the flanks.
Mane arguably should have done better when he was teed up by a reverse pass from substitute Jorgen Strand Larsen, but his touch got away from him near the penalty spot.
Wolves defended resolutely at the other end, as the combative Yerson Mosquera relished the physical battle. With a trip to Manchester City to come next week, Edwards would take another battling performance like this one.
Tired Newcastle miss big opportunity
The reverse fixture between these teams, back in September, represented a new dawn for Newcastle. Following the British-record sale of Alexander Isak to Liverpool, the Magpies handed Woltemade his debut, and he scored the only goal of the game at St James' Park.
Howe's side travelled to Molineux in something of a tricky situation, however. Their hopes of defending the EFL Cup are hanging by a thread after losing 2-0 to Man City in the first leg of their semi-final tie, while injuries continue to bite at their squad.
With Dan Burn, Fabian Schar, Tino Livramento, Jacob Murphy and William Osula all absent, Howe's opportunities to shuffle his pack have been limited, and fatigue seemed to play a part in their below-par performance here.
Though the visitors moved the ball neatly, it was often a case of possession without penetration – they did not register a single shot on target until the final five minutes of the 90, and even then, Sa was not unduly worried.
Howe will likely see this result as two points dropped, rather than one gained, given the congested nature of the battle for European qualification.
His team have won only two of their 11 away matches in the Premier League this season, so next week's double header at home – against PSV in the Champions League and Aston Villa in the Premier League – could come as a relief.
Club reports
Wolves report | Newcastle report
What the managers said
Rob Edwards: "A really solid performance, really committed and we showed a lot of spirit. Newcastle are obviously a very good team. I thought without the ball we had lots of control. When we had to attack we did, we looked a threat on the counter-attack.
"It was a really committed performance. People will look at results and think it has clicked all of a sudden, but performances were there before that."
Eddie Howe: "We controlled the game but we didn't have the cutting edge today. Chance creation was an issue.
"They defended well, very low, compact and it was difficult for us to find space. We were looking for a moment of magic from an individual of brilliance or set play. We had the opportunities as the game went on but we didn't take them."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Wolves are the first side to go four matches unbeaten in a Premier League season while bottom of the table throughout the run since West Bromwich Albion in April-May 2018 (five).
Newcastle failed to win against the Premier League’s bottom side for the first time under Howe – coming into Sunday's match, Howe’s side had won all five of their league games against the team in 20th by an aggregate score of 15-3.
Lewis Hall led all Newcastle players in this match for touches (114), line-breaking passes (11), possession won (eight) and fouls won (four).
This was Newcastle’s fourth goalless draw of the Premier League season, which is four times as many nil-nils as they had across their previous two league campaigns combined (one in 2024/25, zero in 2023/24).