Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer admits he was worried for Joelinton after the forward "fluffed" a glorious early chance against Sheffield United.
The Magpies record signing was played through on goal by Miguel Almiron in the first half against the Blades on Sunday, only to stumble and fire a tame effort at Dean Henderson.
However, Joelinton continued to work hard and his endeavour led to the dismissal of John Egan early in the second half. Allan Saint-Maximin opened the scoring soon after, and the Brazilian scored his first competitive goal at St James' Park to round off a comfortable 3-0 victory.
Shearer admits he feared for the forward's confidence after missing the early opening, but praised the 23-year-old for his work ethic which contributed to an impressive victory for United.
Speaking to Coral, Shearer said: "I thought it was a very good performance, obviously a great result.
"We benefited from the sending off and rightly so for two yellow cards.
"Joelinton got his goal. We were slightly worried when he went through one-on-one in the first half and fluffed that big opportunity.
"But to his credit, he kept going and kept getting into positions. He worked very hard and got the goal that he and Newcastle deserved.
"To score three and get three huge points should banish any talk of relegation. It was a great day for Newcastle."
