We saw both Kenedy and Yoshinori Muto come off the bench against Brighton. However, the former got a much better chance to influence proceedings.
Ayoze Perez picked up an injury early on, forcing him off in the 33rd minute. Fortunately he’d already scored by then.
With a couple of attacking options on the bench, Rafa Benitez turned to Kenedy to replace in the in-form Spaniard. This was despite the fact he’s been terrible all season and will be heading back to Chelsea in the summer.
Meanwhile, permanent Newcastle player Muto remained on the bench. He would come on in the second half, taking Christian Atsu’s place for the final 10 minutes.
By then the Magpies were truly up against it as Brighton pushed for a winner.
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It was another example of Muto coming on where he really had no chance of changing the game. As for Kenedy, he had about an hour and failed spectacularly.
Kenedy shouldn’t be playing ahead of Muto
The Chelsea loanee has nothing to prove anymore.
With his reported price tag and awful form, there’s no way that he’ll be at Newcastle next season.
Muto will be though, and the Japanese forward hasn’t had enough opportunities to show what he is capable of.
Saturday was the perfect chance for him, but Benitez instead opted to go for Kenedy, who yet again let himself down. He was poor on the ball, then failed to stop the cross that led to Brighton’s equaliser.
Benitez clearly doesn’t fancy Muto if he believes Kenedy is the better option off the bench.