Joelinton has emotional Newcastle United moment as Eddie Howe is lined up for Premier League accolade

Newcastle United leapfrogged opponents Brentford into 14th in the Premier League table with a 2-0 victory in West London.

With the Bees down to 10-men following Josh Dasilva’s red card, Joelinton opened the scoring in the 33rd-minute before Joe Willock, his second goal in as many games, doubled the Magpies’ advantage.

Here, our writer Jordan Cronin reflects on a massive win for Eddie Howe’s side at the Brentford Community Stadium:

Thomas Frank, what are you on about?

It was a moment that changed the game, and it was an incident that could have ruined Matt Targett’s career.

The tackle by Josh Dasilva, although not intentional, could have broken the left-back’s leg. Let’s be honest, he was really fortunate to escape unharmed.

So, why was Brentford boss Thomas Frank so incensed about Dasilva’s 10th-minute red card during his post-match press conference?

Once Mike Dean checked the VAR pitchside monitor there was no doubt in the referee’s mind of the correct outcome.

Even the Brentford Community Stadium winced when a replay of the challenge was shown on the big screen.

All that and you’d expect Frank to have no complaints but his take was baffling as he addressed the incident as a “random situation”. What does that even mean?

It was a red card 10 times over, regardless of whether it was intentional or not.

What Frank was right about is Dasilva’s dismissal was a deciding factor during the afternoon.

Brentford started bright, Bryan Mbeumo’s pace unnerved Dan Burn, but United quickly took control of their extra man advantage.

Joelinton deservedly laps it up the love

There was no one at the Brentford Community more deserving of a goal than the in-form Joelinton, who opened the scoring on 33 minutes.

People are saying it time and time again but the Brazilian’s turnaround at Newcastle is nothing short of remarkable.

Hung up to dry as a £40million striker, written off by many, Joelinton is looking everything like a £40m central midfielder.

And with that, he’s become adored on the terraces and something of a cult hero.

Joelinton has evidently felt the love of the Magpies fans as he sprinted the full length of the pitch to celebrate with the 1,7000-strong away end.

But the scenes at full-time were even more special.

As Magpies fans serenaded Joelinton with his own chant “He’s Brazilian...”, the 25-year-old stood alone on the pitch applauding and taking it all in.

It was perhaps a moment where Joelinton realised how far he’s come, and how indispensable he is to United’s survival push.

Joelinton deserves every bit of praise that is finally coming his way. And who knows, a Brazil national team call-up is just around the corner.

We can talk about Bruno!

Bruno Guimaraes has been largely frustrated following his £35million January move from Lyon with three cameo appearances before Brentford.

But in West London, Bruno was handed his longest minutes to date, spending just under half an hour on the pitch. And his impact was of note.

His introduction for Jacob Murphy on 64 minutes instantly took the sting out of the game just as the hosts found some momentum when Christan Eriksen entered the fray.

Eriksen’s remarkable return to football is a talking point in itself as Newcastle fans joined in the rapturous applause when the Denmark international was substituted on.

But the travelling supporters were also delighted to see Bruno get a longer run out, and he certainly looked classy in possession, completing a number of passes.

He was eager to get on the ball and seek out passes. He even had a late effort at goal that was stuck past David Raya’s right post.

Bruno impressed and showed everyone what he can do but that is still unlikely to be enough to displace any of the midfield three against Brighton next week.

The Newcastle turnaround continues

Following the 1-1 draw against Watford in mid-January, the mood of the fanbase was flat as their team had just one win to their name and sat two points from safety.

Fast forward to now and incredibly, the Magpies have won four of their last five games, beating Leeds, Everton, Aston Villa and Brentford, plus drawing at West Ham.

In the process, they’ve also recorded three clean sheets in five games, which is equally impressive given how bad they were defensively leading up to the New Year.

In total, it’s seven games unbeaten for United, their longest run since the start of the 2011/12 campaign where they finished fifth under Alan Pardew.

Up to 14th, Newcastle are still only four points above the Premier League relegation zone, so they are far from safe but great strides have been taken.

Eddie Howe, February’s manager of the month?

Howe has taken 10 points from a possible 12 in February - surely that at least makes him a manager of the month contender?

When the former long-serving Bournemouth boss arrived in November, it wasn’t exactly the new manager bounce everyone was hoping for.

But Howe remained patient - so to do the majority of the supporters - worked tirelessly hard on team and player improvement, all of which has come to fruition.

Only Liverpool have more points than Newcastle in the last six games. Both sides are the only two clubs not to lose a game in 2022.

Outsiders may argue the club’s January spending is the sole reason why United have climbed up the table but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

OK, so it is a contributing factor after Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Matt Targett and even Chris Wood’s impact but the bulk of United’s turnaround is down to Howe and the vast amount of individual player improvements.