Joelinton pictured during Newcastle's draw with Crystal Palace. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
Danny Murphy has blasted Newcastle midfielder Joelinton for a ‘lazy’ piece of player in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.
The Magpies took the lead in the 53rd minute via a Marc Guehi own goal and looked to be taking all three points until Daniel Munoz equalised in the fourth minute of added time.
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In all honesty, the win would have massively flattered Newcastle, who managed just one shot in the entire match and none on target, compared to 16 attempts from Crystal Palace. The xG stakes weighed heavily in Palace’s favour as well, 1.76 to 0.04.
Part of Newcastle’s problem going forward was their lack of accuracy when crossing the ball into the box.
Both teams attempted 22 crosses on the day but where Palace were accurate with seven of theirs (32%), Newcastle hit the mark with just two (9%).
Joelinton slammed for ‘lazy’ moment against Palace
Joelinton pictured during Newcastle’s draw with Crystal Palace. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Deployed out wide, Joelinton was guilty of some poor crossing in an ineffective display, failing to find his target with three attempts.
One such incident saw the Brazilian fire the ball out of play when he had teammates asking for the ball around him.
Murphy has highlighted this sequence as a sign of ‘laziness’ from Joelinton, who took the easy option rather than trying to take care to craft an opening for Newcastle.
“It’s not always a technical thing, but it’s also a decision-making thing high up the pitch,” Murphy said on Match of the Day (via Geordie Boot Boys).
“Here, there is a little overlap, a little easy ball for a simple cross into the box. He [Joelinton] chooses not to and then the delivery is really poor, it’s lazy.
“A high, loopy cross with only two players in the box… We have seen Newcastle be dynamic and have good spells and score lots of goals but this is a far cry from it.”