Newcastle United attacker Joelinton won a penalty and netted a first-half header in a 3-0 thrashing of Leicester City that took his side up to second in the Premier League table yesterday.
Leicester defender Daniel Amartey got the match off to a terrible start for the hosts, gifting Newcastle a penalty when he chopped down Joelinton after 86 seconds, and striker Chris Wood blasted the spot-kick into the middle of the net.
Newcastle’s great start continued when Miguel Almiron added a brilliant second in the seventh minute, cutting in from the right before playing a one-two with Bruno Guimaraes and slotting the return pass in at the far post.
Despite the return of league football following the World Cup break, there was little Christmas cheer for the home fans as Joelinton made it 3-0 in the 32nd minute when Boubakary Soumare was caught ball-watching at a corner and the Brazilian headed home.
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Similarly, Fulham capitalised on Crystal Palace having two players sent off to stroll to a 3-0 away win in their first Premier League match after the World Cup.
Bobby De Corvoda-Reid, Tim Ream and Aleksandar Mitrovic were on target for Fulham. Palace had Tyrick Mitchell sent off in the first half and James Tomkins followed him down the tunnel in the second after a second booking.
Also, Harry Kane shook off his World Cup disappointment to spark a Tottenham Hotspur revival in an entertaining 2-2 draw at Brentford.
An early goal by Vitaly Janelt and Ivan Toney’s close-range strike shortly after the interval put Brentford 2-0 up as Tottenham struggled to deal with their hosts.
Kane headed home in the 65th minute to give his side a lifeline while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, levelled with a calm finish.
In another game, Rayan Ait Nouri grabbed the winner five minutes into stoppage-time as Wolverhampton Wanderers moved off the foot of the table with a 2-1 victory over Everton in manager Julen Lopetegui’s first Premier League game in charge.
Ait Nouri scored from close range at the back post after a quick break from the visitors to spark wild celebrations from the players and the bench, and leave Frank Lampard’s strugglers walking off the Goodison Park pitch to boos.
