“You just couldn’t make it up”- Eddie Howe baffled by what Newcastle man did right in front of him v Leicester

Eddie Howe has blasted Joelinton for his stupidity in getting booked in Newcastle’s 4-0 win over Leicester City on Saturday. 

The Brazilian was objectively excellent against the Foxes, completing 93% of his passes and creating two chances — including one big chance — while attempting three shots and making two clearances.

Newcastle midfielder in his prime looking for MLS switch!

However, Joelinton was shown a yellow card in the 71st minute for a late challenge on James Justin.

With the Magpies already 4-0 up, it was a challenge Joelinton didn’t need to make and it will now prove rather costly as the 28-year-old will miss Newcastle’s away trip to Ipswich Town next Saturday.

Newcastle boss Howe will be even more perplexed and frustrated by his midfielder given he warned him not to get booked just minutes before Joelinton stupidly flew into a challenge.

“It’s bizarre how things work. I’m talking to him from the side, he’s right in front of me and I’m saying ‘Joey, don’t get booked’, and he’s like ‘don’t worry I won’t’. Two minutes later he gets booked. You just couldn’t make it up,” Howe told reporters after the emphatic win (via The Chronicle).

He added: “In some senses sometimes these things happen. I’m disappointed to lose him because he’s a player we need in every away game but at least he can now play free and play his normal game.”

Joelinton out for one game, Nick Pope out for one month

Saturday’s victory ends a four-game winless run for Newcastle and sees them climb to 11th in the table, just four points off Manchester City in fifth and five off the Champions League spots.

But the Magpies face a challenging festive schedule that starts with an EFL Cup clash with Brentford on Wednesday and also includes fixtures against the likes of Aston Villa, Man Utd and Tottenham.

While Joelinton is only suspended for one league match, Newcastle will have to make do without goalkeeper Nick Pope — who was replaced on Saturday by Martin Dubravka due to injury.

“He saw the specialist and the feedback is that he’s going to be out for around a month, so bad timing for us and for Nick because there are a lot of games in that four-week period. We hope that after that four weeks, he’ll be in good enough condition to play,” Howe said of Pope.

“He injured himself just passing a ball against Brentford. It was really innocuous-looking, it was a left-footed pass, but his knee didn’t feel particularly good afterwards, so that’s the plan.”

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