Joelinton's reaction after Newcastle goal should worry…

Joelinton's reaction after Newcastle goal should worry Manchester United, Spurs and Liverpool

There were still 36 minutes left on the clock at the Gtech Community Stadium, but Newcastle United were not in the mood to waste a second after equalising against Brentford.

There were no over the top celebrations after David Raya's own goal. Not only did Callum Wilson immediately pick up the ball so that the game could get back under way - Joelinton whipped up the away end behind the goal even further by throwing his arms up and down.

The message was clear: Newcastle United were going for the win rather than settling for a point. That response should worry Newcastle's top four rivals, particularly when the visitors backed it up, and Alexander Isak duly popped up with a decisive second just a few minutes later following a stunning first-time finish.

For the second time in four days, Newcastle triumphed in the capital to stay in third place. Should we even be surprised anymore?

Newcastle's most painful defeat, the Carabao Cup final, may have come in London yet the city has been a happy hunting ground for Eddie Howe's team in the Premier League this season. In fact, Newcastle are now the only top-flight side yet to lose in the big smoke this season.

That is all the more impressive when you consider Newcastle have already played Arsenal, Spurs, Brentford, Fulham, Crystal Palace and West Ham away from home. Only a final day trip to Chelsea remains in London and, on recent evidence, a visit to Stamford Bridge is certainly not the daunting prospect it once was.

Newcastle have now drawn just two games in the capital this season, picking up 14 points from a possible 18 in the process. Perhaps what has been most striking is how Newcastle have shown a different side to their game in each win, whether it was delivering a statement performance at Spurs; being ruthlessly clinical at Fulham and West Ham; digging in at Arsenal; dominating at Crystal Palace even if it was, admittedly, a goalless stalemate; or showing real character to come from behind at Brentford.

These are certainly not easy places to go. Newcastle were the first side to pick up a point at the Emirates this season, for instance, while the Magpies became only the second team to defeat Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium in 2022/2023.

That does not happen by accident. There has been a consistency to Newcastle's preparations - regardless of the opponent - and the team's core principles have stayed the same whoever they play. The players know their jobs, whether they are on the road or at home, and they showed the resilience needed to recover from an awful first-half showing at Brentford on Saturday.

“It’s a huge test of character passed, but I don't doubt us in that way," Howe told reporters. "We have proved that time and time again this season, but it was a question of ‘Did we have the energy? Did we have the fight in us?’

"Because in the first half, it didn’t look as though we did. It just goes to show how quickly a game of football can change. The players deserve all the credit for that."

You now have to go back 12 months for the last time Newcastle suffered a league defeat in the capital yet some of those in the away end on Saturday will have remembered an altogether different streak. Yes, Newcastle once went more than four years between winning in London in the top-flight during a 29-game winless run overseen by three different managers between 1997 and 2001.

The hoodoo was finally ended in style by Sir Bobby Robson's side with a 2-1 victory at Arsenal. Newcastle went on to finish in the top four that season. Could history be about to repeat itself?

Joelinton's reaction after Newcastle goal should worry Manchester United, Spurs and Liverpool

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