Joelinton ends goal drought as Newcastle overcome Sheffield United

NEWCASTLE (Reuters) – Record signing Joelinton scored his first Premier League goal since August as Newcastle United secured a convincing 3-0 win over 10-man Sheffield United on Sunday.

The Brazilian forward found the net from close range to complete a dominant display for Newcastle, who were playing their first game since the Premier League’s resumption.

Sheffield United did not create many chances at St James’ Park and were reduced to 10 men early in the second half when defender John Egan picked up his second yellow card.

Egan, who was booked for tackling Joelinton for an offside decision in the first half, brought down the Brazilian forward to receive his marching orders from referee David Coote.

Newcastle took control of the contest in the 55th minute when midfielder Matt Ritchie’s cross from the left wing found Allan Saint-Maximin, whose low shot found the net.

Ritchie doubled Newcastle’s lead in the 69th minute with a deflected shot from the edge of the box, before Joelinton scored just his second league goal of his debut campaign in the North East.

“I see Joelinton in training and he works really hard to score,” said Saint-Maximin.

“You have to know that a striker sometimes has a difficult time, but I hope he can go on and score against Aston Villa.”

The result means Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United, who drew goalless against Aston Villa in their first game back, remain seventh in the table and four points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.

The Blades face fifth-placed Manchester United on Wednesday and will need to produce a much-improved display to keep their hopes of European qualification alive.

“I’m tired of people talking about Europe and the Champions League,” Wilder said.

“It’s about working in the present, and the present is that we’ve had two average performances this week.

“We’ve got to play at our best to get anything, we’ve got to go all out, but we’re on pace at the moment.”

Newcastle, meanwhile, have moved up to 12th place with 38 points to surely allay any remaining relegation fears.

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)