Jermaine Jenas makes Joelinton claim following Newcastle’s draw with Aston Villa

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Newcastle United forward Joelinton potentially had his best game in a Magpies shirt on Friday night, according to Jermaine Jenas.

Steve Bruce’s side picked up a point at St. James’ Park, with Jamaal Lascelles equalising in injury time after a Ciaran Clark own goal had seemingly handed Villa all three points.

But the captain struck to earn a point for the hosts, which could be absolutely crucial in the club’s survival mission.

It was another largely dull contest involving Newcastle, with the creativity of Allan Saint-Maximin, Miguel Almiron and Callum Wilson again being sorely missed.

Bruce put his faith in Joelinton, Ryan Fraser and Dwight Gayle to lead the line.

None of them excelled, but the former surprisingly did come in for a positive word from ex-Newcastle midfielder Jenas on Match of the Day (13/03).

He said of the Brazilian: “I think there were times in the game that Newcastle played really well.

“Joelinton potentially had his best game in a Newcastle shirt.

“But it all seemed to fall apart once they got into that 18-yard box.”

Jenas went on to criticise the decision-making in the final third of the ex-Hoffenheim star and his colleagues, but claimed that it was probably his best game for the Magpies ‘in a weird way’.

Despite Jenas’ claim, statistics from Sofascore indicate that Joelinton completed just 19/29 (66%) passes. He actually only won 13/31 duels, and he also didn’t score or assist.

Joelinton has got to find ruthless edge

It’s questionable whether Joelinton actually had his best game in a Newcastle shirt on Friday night, but one thing is for absolute certainty – he must be more ruthless in the final third.

The 24-year-old got in plenty of decent positions against Villa but pretty much always selected the wrong option.

The way his time at Newcastle has gone would suggest there won’t be much, if any, improvement between now and the end of the season, but he has got to start carrying a greater threat in and around the penalty area, especially in the absence of key players.