Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce hailed Jacob Murphy after his first Premier League goal in nearly three years earned a point at Wolves.
The winger's late free-kick cancelled out Raul Jimenez's fourth goal of the season to grab a 1-1 draw.
Murphy's last top-flight strike came in January 2018 and he has since had loan spells at West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday after struggling to make a breakthrough following his move from Norwich in 2017.
But the manager praised his impact after playing him out of position at wing-back due to the Magpies' injury problems.
Bruce said: "He was arguably our best player today and I'm delighted for him. He had a big loan at Sheffield Wednesday last year and that did him the world of good.
"I never contemplated it [a loan move] from the first week he was back. He was a different player. Certainly physically he's come back in really good condition.
"We all know he's a good athlete and he certainly looks like he's matured. He had been practicing free-kicks on Thursday in training and I was thinking 'let's see if he can do it again'.
"The development is there for everybody to see."
Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo said: "I have to see the Newcastle goal again but the ball cannot go on that side of the wall, it cannot go in. If it goes over the wall we can deal with that but it cannot go in that side.
"We were without problems until we got the goal we deserved and then we should manage the game better."
To see our player ratings from the match swipe through the picture gallery above or click on the arrows.
