Under-fire Joelinton gets Magpies singing
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Sheffield's Irish defender John Egan fouling Newcastle's Brazilian striker Joelinton in their game yesterday, resulting in a second yellow card. The floodgates opened soon after at St James' Park, with the hosts running out 3-0 winners, as Joelinton scored just his second Premier League goal of the campaign.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LONDON • With just one Premier League goal before Newcastle's home English Premier League match against Sheffield United yesterday, Joelinton has been largely written off as a flop.
Signed last summer for a club-record £40 million (S$69 million) from Hoffenheim, big things were expected of the Brazilian striker - not because he had a prolific scoring record elsewhere but simply because of his massive price tag.
However, Joelinton has struggled to adapt to life at St James' Park, with many pundits and fans calling him an expensive misfit.
While the 23-year-old may never live up to his transfer fee, he was instrumental in Newcastle's 3-0 win over the Blades, putting them just two points shy of the 40-point mark, which is widely considered to be the safety line from relegation.
Sheffield United, who are chasing a European place for the first time in their history, crumbled after John Egan was sent off in the second half for holding back Joelinton when he was the last man.
Allan Saint-Maximin grabbed the opener shortly after, before Matt Ritchie netted. Joelinton then struck his first English top-flight goal since scoring the winner at Tottenham last August.
Saint-Maximin told Sky Sports that he was delighted for his much-maligned teammate, saying: "I'm really happy. It was important we started with a win. You have always to be ready and I am really happy to score. I am really happy for Joelinton. He works really hard to score. A striker has difficult times but I hope he can score again now."
On Saturday, Raul Jimenez set the record for the most goals by a Wolves player in a Premier League season after netting against West Ham to boost their top-four credentials.
The Mexico striker steered his header beyond Lukasz Fabianski from a cross by substitute Adama Traore for his 14th league goal.
Pedro Neto also came off the bench and tucked home Matt Doherty's cross, as Wolves beat West Ham 2-0 away.
In an earlier game on Saturday, Bournemouth slumped to a 2-0 home defeat by Crystal Palace, leaving them entrenched in the relegation zone with eight games left. Luka Milivojevic and Jordan Ayew were the scorers at Dean Court.
