Eddie Howe explains Joelinton spat after furious Newcastle United star points finger
The Brazilian came off before the hour mark as he looks to build up fitness after a groin injury
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe insists that Joelinton cooled down quickly after his number came up against Qarabag.
Taken off after 54 minutes, Joelinton waved his arms in an emotional reaction before pointing at the stadium timer as he looked to get minutes under his belt after a groin injury.
On Joelinton's withdrawal, Howe, speaking in his Press conference after a 9-3 win over the team from Azerbaijan, told Chronicle Live: "Yeah, Joey always plays with that passion. I think that's what makes him the player that he is, you know, from my side, I'm trying to protect him and make sure we're able to use him in the next game.
"He's had very limited game-time. He's such an important player. We need to keep him fit.
"So there was method behind what I was trying to do with him as the same as Sven Botman, to try and keep these key players fit who haven't had a lot of football.
"So we need to build the robustness up. But I love the fact that he doesn't want to come off, that was sort of him in a nutshell where he's very passionate and want to be well."
Newcastle eased to victory in the end but Howe admitted: "I thought at 2-0 we probably came off the pedal. We didn't intend to do that but it was sort of the natural reaction. In the second half the game became end-to-end which, for us, was a real shame.
"For one, we extended too much energy and it meant we didn't put pressure on their goal, so we're disappointed with that 45 minutes."
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