Newcastle United drew 3-3 with Brentford in what was Eddie Howe’s maiden game in charge, with Joelinton scoring the second in a much improved individual performance.
The striker arrived from Hoffenheim with huge expectations in 2019 as a young Brazilian with bags of potential and as the Magpies’ club record signing.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t lived up to expectations so far and has struggled to really showcase why the club spent big money on him.
However, he looked more like the man they bought two years ago with his performance on Saturday, bagging the second Newcastle goal.
What did the Newcastle fans have to say about Joelinton?
“Best player on the pitch by a mile.” @Goalinton1
“HE’S BEEN SO GOOD!” @meaden_harley
“New player!! Insane performance so far.” @krijo86
“Like a new signing.” @GJ_1892
“Never doubted him once you know.” @Zommermonkey
“It’s a miracle #blessed.” @TylerCo42392411
“Joelinton looks a man transformed.” @spaghettiprism
Clearly the Newcastle fans are prepared to get behind Joelinton despite a woeful two years on Tyneside.
If he can get back amongst the goals as he was predicted to, that will be massive for Howe and the team. It’ll lift some of the weight off Allan Saint-Maximin’s shoulders, and will give teams something else to think about.
At the moment, if you stop Saint-Maximin you stop Newcastle, so it’s been a case of stick two or three men on him and keep him out of the game. If the opposition has other dangers to deal with, it’ll free Saint-Maximin up and make Newcastle better going forward.