Tottenham Hotspur fans were left absolutely fuming at Joelinton during Sunday’s pre-season friendly draw with Newcastle United.
The rot has finally been stopped as Newcastle United managed to bring their pre-season losing streak to an end in their fourth friendly of the summer against Tottenham Hotspur in Seoul.
Eddie Howe’s side still haven’t managed a win, though, as they could only draw with Spurs as Harvey Barnes equalised with a wicked finish after Brennan Johnson’s early opener.
Though the game had a lengthy break as everyone said goodbye to the departing Son Heung-min, it was played with a real competitive edge.
Many of the challenges wouldn’t have looked out of place in a feisty Premier League fixture and, to no one’s surprise, Joelinton was right at the heart of the carnage.
The Brazilian came to life when the game became a physical battle and he charged around the field, throwing himself into tackles.
Joelinton’s antics have riled up Tottenham fans, who were left especially unhappy with one incident involving Archie Gray.
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Spurs fans raging with Joelinton after Archie Gray altercation
Though he isn’t at his sharpest on the ball yet this summer, Joelinton appeared to love having a game he could really sink his teeth into against Spurs.
It was as if he forgot it was a friendly with some of the tackles and shoulder barges he was making, but he was fortunate not to be punished in one incident.
Early on in the second half, the all-action midfielder appeared to catch Spurs starlet Gray with a wayward elbow as he protected the ball.
If the match was a competitive fixture, Joelinton would surely have received a yellow card at a minimum, if not a red.
Yet, he went unpunished and Spurs supporters were left absolutely raging as they took to social media to complain.
The anger was so intense that a lot of the comments are unpublishable, but some managed to hold in the animosity just about.
X, formerly Twitter, user @KieranKyze wrote: “This Joelinton guy man can’t stand him.”
“A stray Joelinton elbow,” @RMaskell1981 posted with a thinking emoji. “Literally every game he gets away with assault.”
@SMTHFC1 posted: “Good – if surprising – to see Joelinton giving Sonny a hug rather than a punch in the face,” in reference to the guard of honour Son was given as he left the field.
@SpursYou lamented: “Joelinton kicks us around every game. Needs to be sorted out.”
Discussing the elbow, @mahmus__ posted: “Joelinton does this countless times a season and doesn’t even get carded, the most disgusting player in the league.”
In contrast, Newcastle fans absolutely loved seeing Joelinton winding up another team’s fanbase once again, after doing the same thing with Arsenal a week ago.
User @joelixton posted: “Joelinton winding up both north London clubs’ fan bases in the space of a week. Go on my boy.”
“Every fanbase complains the games gone too soft…unless their teams playing against Joelinton,” @G1L_Toon said.
Joelinton also shows Newcastle weakness despite his qualities
There’s not a Newcastle fan who doesn’t love watching Joelinton at his steamrolling best, ploughing into players and driving the team up the pitch.
He isn’t the only powerhouse in the midfield, either, as Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali can throw their weight around and are no strangers to robust challenges.
Yet, while the physical approach has served Howe well, cracks are beginning to show in the setup.
Newcastle lack a real creative force in the middle of the park, which can make build-up play monotonous in central areas.
Newcastle are great at quick counters and utilising their wingers, but lack imagination when they are controlling the ball against a deep block.
With such limited options in midfield anyway after the sale of Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock’s injury, a creative midfielder should be on the transfer agenda before deadline day.
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