How Joelinton's split role helped an underperforming Newcastle ...

It’s not uncommon that a single player best summarises the story of a match.

Normally, that would be somebody who took the game concerned by storm, maybe scored a goal or two, or was the playmaker controlling the field. However, Newcastle United’s scrappy 2-1 home win against Tottenham Hotspur yesterday was best summarised by Joelinton — not for goals, but due to the Brazilian’s abrasive, all-action role in coach Eddie Howe’s midfield.

Despite Newcastle taking the three points, this wasn’t their most impressive performance on the ball, with Howe’s team missing their usual passing combinations in wide areas. Down their left, Joelinton’s brightest moments came when battling for the ball in midfield or dropping to support his full-back, Lloyd Kelly.

Repurposing the successful approach that resulted in them winning 4-0 when Spurs went to St James’ Park last season, Newcastle pressed man to man and defended in a 5-4-1 shape to limit the visitors’ wide combinations and control the threat of their full-backs.

Again, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes didn’t drop to help form the back five, which meant they were in a position to strike on the counter-attack once Newcastle won the ball. Instead, that job was assigned to Joelinton, who dropped in next to Kelly in a left wing-back position when the home team were defending in their own half.

In the first 45 minutes, Newcastle’s defensive organisation limited Tottenham to shots from outside the penalty area and chances from set pieces. The switch to a back five without the ball meant Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie couldn’t overload Newcastle’s defensive line.

In this example below, Joelinton’s positioning allows Kelly to keep an eye on Porro’s darting run and prevents right-winger Wilson Odobert from receiving the ball comfortably if James Maddison passes it out wide.

In another example, Kelly moves up to track Porro’s positioning between the lines, and because of Joelinton’s role without the ball, Tottenham can’t find Odobert’s run behind the defence, as the South American is dropping to track him.

In the second half, Spurs increased the pressure.

The introduction of Brennan Johnson on the right wing helped with that. The Wales forward’s pace and directness constantly threatened Newcastle’s back five, eventually leading to an equaliser.

A mixture of Johnson’s anticipation, Joelinton’s unfamiliarity with the position, his late reaction, and Nick Pope parrying Maddison’s shot all combined to put Johnson in a goalscoring position.

Pope saves his shot, but Dan Burn can’t avoid putting the ball into his own net…

In an attempt to beef up the central area and decrease the distance Joelinton had to cover when moving from his midfield role in possession to a left wing-back one if Tottenham had it, Newcastle returned to their regular shape without the ball, with the 28-year-old now in midfield…

Regardless of his position on the field and the phase of the game, Joelinton was putting in a shift: he was helping out Kelly when he was defending as a wing-back and winning duels in midfield when he was brought back next to his compatriot, Bruno Guimaraes.

Here, Guimaraes presses Udogie near the centre circle and Joelinton follows up to collect the loose ball and start the attacking transition, which later leads to Jacob Murphy getting close to scoring Newcastle’s second goal of the game if not for Guglielmo Vicario’s save.

In addition, Joelinton was still dropping into the penalty area to assist his back-four colleagues and clear any dangerous balls.

On the other hand, Newcastle’s best moment in possession all afternoon came from — you guessed it — Joelinton.

In the build-up to the winner, Joelinton starts from his left No 8 role in midfield, drops to help his team progress the ball, then returns it to Lewis Hall and signals to the left-back to pass to Burn. Newcastle’s centre-back then finds Joelinton in space, and he dribbles past Maddison…

…before playing a line-splitting pass through Tottenham’s block which puts Murphy in front of goal. The winger then unselfishly rolls the ball across goal for Alexander Isak to score into an empty net.

With Newcastle leading again and around 10 minutes of the 90 left, it was now Murphy who dropped next to Tino Livramento when they wanted to defend in a situational back five. This allowed them to use Joelinton’s ball-winning ability in midfield for the remainder of the game.

Joelinton’s performance and tactical role were reflective of Newcastle’s. Their defensive organisation limited Spurs in the first half and the intensity in midfield allowed them to win the ball on multiple occasions, but the performance lacked a sense of control and impact in possession — excluding the through ball that led to the winning goal.

“It’s so difficult to win in this league, especially if you are not at your absolute best,” Howe said. “We are finding a way to do it — that’s a great sign — but we know that longer term we are going to need to improve our performance.”