It just wasn’t to be for Newcastle United on Wednesday night.
Despite a brief five minutes when it looked like Newcastle might pull off the seemingly impossible and progress through the Champions League group of death, AC Milan struck twice to come from behind.
As a result, Eddie Howe’s side are now out of Europe. A valiant effort in a particularly difficult group but there was just not enough cutting edge at St James’ Park, albeit the damage was surely done during the two losses to Borussia Dortmund earlier in the group.
The best moment, however, came from Joelinton.
It was he, a man derided as a £40m flop during his early years at the club, who opened the scoring and gave Newcastle hope with a thunderous strike.
On a pretty miserable night, it was a wonderful moment for Joelinton himself, given all the criticism he endured during his first few months. His goal feels an awfully long time ago now.
Newcastle vs AC Milan: Allan Saint-Maximin’s message after Joelinton’s goal
Allan Saint-Maximin posted a video of himself on Instagram celebrating the Brazilian’s strike in the first half and shouting ‘vamos’ in response to the goal.
He also sent a host of love hearts to his old Newcastle teammate, the two having played together even before the PIF era.
Allan Saint-Maximin: Still a Newcastle fan
While things just didn’t work out for the winger under Howe, it’s fantastic to see him still supporting the club. He has been a vocal supporter of the team this season even despite failing to make the grade.
There were times during the bleak years before the takeover where Saint-Maximin would carry the team, helping keep them in the Premier League. Had it not been for his intervention at times, perhaps the takeover wouldn’t have ever happened.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
