Martin Keown seriously impressed with Joelinton, but wants him to improve one thing

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Martin Keown was very impressed with Newcastle United star Joelinton, but still thinks he has areas of his game to improve on.

Speaking on BT Sport Score (7/4 4:13pm), Keown was talking about the Brazilian star after his contribution for Newcastle’s first goal.

Newcastle were a goal behind at the break thanks to an Ivan Toney penalty.

It was a very out of character start to the match from Eddie Howe’s side, as they struggled to get going.

Credit needs to be given to Brentford, who once again made life difficult for one of the league’s top teams.

However, Joelinton and his Newcastle teammates turned up in the second-half, and earned a valuable three points.

The first goal went down as a David Raya own goal, but Joelinton forced the error with a dangerous ball across the six-yard box.

The Spanish goalkeeper could only deflect it into his own net, and Alexander Isak went on to score the winner.

Keown believes that Joelinton still needs to score more goals for Newcastle going forward.

His brace against West Ham in midweek clearly wasn’t enough to change his mind.

Keown impressed with Newcastle star Joelinton

The Arsenal legend wasn’t covering Newcastle’s game on BT Sport, but commented on Newcastle’s equaliser and said: “I think that’s the one area Joelinton needs to improve when he’s in front of goal, and he’s got lucky there for sure.

“In front of goal, I still feel he’s not quite really top level. In midfield, in his work-rate and what he’s done he’s been amazing.

“But in front of goal there are times when he can be better.

His BT Sport colleague Aaron McLean replied: “I’m just saying he scored two in the last game! He was brought in as a striker, he was never a striker.

“His goal return does need to improve, but I think that those areas of his game have been improving.

“There has been a huge improvement in him, and I’ve seen an improvement in his performances since he’s been moved to midfield.”

Joelinton’s work-rate is arguably his best asset, but Keown clearly missed the two brilliant finishes he produced for Newcastle on Wednesday.

The timing of his run for the first goal against West Ham was particularly impressive.

He’s matched his best scoring season for Newcastle already, although with four goals it’s not the best tally.

His improvement has been extraordinary, and he could soon be a Champions League player if Newcastle continue their brilliant run of form.