The story that sums up Newcastle United's transformation under Eddie Howe following win at Brentford

The Magpies capitalised on Josh Dasilva’s early red card with goals from Joeltinon and Joe Willock putting them in a commanding position by half-time.

No further goals followed in the second half as Eddie Howe’s side saw out a comfortable 2-0 win on their first ever visit to the Brentford Community Stadium.

Here are Dominic Scurr’s five key takeaways from the game…

No Maxi, no problem

Allan Saint-Maximin was a late withdrawal from last Saturday’s trip to West Ham United due to a suspected calf injury, according to head coach Howe.

The French winger has since spent the days building up to this weekend’s match at Brentford in Monaco to recover.

And he remained out of the country while The Magpies squad made another long journey to the capital.

Meanwhile, Kieran Trippier travelled and stayed with the team in the hotel on Friday night before being spotted at Brentford’s ground on crutches. The England international is currently recovering from a fifth metatarsal fracture picked up in the 1-0 win against Aston Villa a fortnight prior.

Eddie Howe named an unchanged starting line-up from the draw at West Ham and there was just one change on the bench with Javier Manquillo coming in for Lucas De Bolle.

A huge opportunity

After an even opening 10 minutes, an early injury scare for Newcastle turned into disaster for Brentford as the hosts were reduced to 10 men.

Dasilva and Matt Targett went for what seemed like a 50/50 challenge on the edge of the Brentford penalty area as the Newcastle left-back went down in pain holding his shin.

But replays showed the Brentford man had gone in with a studs-showing straight-leg well above Targett’s ankle. A VAR check prompted referee Mike Dean to show a straight red card to Dasilva and the whole of the Brentford Community Stadium winced almost in agreement when the replays were shown on the big screen.

Although Bees boss Thomas Frank didn’t quite see things that way as he felt the foul was accidental and the red card ‘decided the game’.

In reality, Targett was fortunate to get back on his feet quickly and put in another impressive display as Newcastle were handed a huge opportunity to claim another crucial three points.

Joe the Redeemer

As Newcastle pushed to make their man advantage count, up stepped Joelinton to head them into the lead from Ryan Fraser's cross.

It was the transformed Brazilian’s second goal of the season, with the other also coming against Brentford in Howe's first match in charge back in November.

In celebration, Joelinton ran the length of the pitch to take in the moment in front of the Newcastle supporters at the other end of the ground.

Once a taunted figure on Tyneside, the 25-year-old’s redemption arc since dropping into midfield has been one of the stories of Newcastle’s season so far.

And the connection he has forged with the Toon Army has been heartwarming to witness. Even after the full-time whistle, he was the last United player on the pitch applauding the fans as they sang his name.

We are seriously getting to the stage where a first senior national call-up doesn’t seem too far away if he keeps this form up.

You wonder what the odds are for a Bruno Guimaraes-Joelinton starting midfield partnership for Brazil in Qatar?

After taking the lead, Newcastle continued to push for a second with Chris Wood and the impressive Fraser coming close.

But on the stroke of half-time, The Magpies extended their lead with a sweeping counter attacking move.

A great take and ball from Fabian Schar set up Willock to caress home his second goal in as many games to continue his personal resurgence.

The half-time whistle blew shortly afterwards and the biggest frustration was that Newcastle weren't further in front as Brentford goalkeeper David Raya made a series of strong saves.

But for the first time all season, Newcastle took a two goal lead in at the break.

A ‘miracle’ return

While it was very much Newcastle United’s day at Brentford, it was also Christian Eriksen’s as the Danish midfielder returned to competitive action for the first time since suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch at Euro 2020 last June.

The then 29-year-old’s was successfully resuscitated on the pitch but his professional career was in doubt as he was left unable to play for Inter Milan in Serie A.

But on January deadline day, the former Tottenham Hotspur man signed a short-term deal at Brentford until the end of the season.

It made for an emotional moment as he replaced his compatriot Mathias Jensen in the 52nd minute to wholehearted applause from both sets of supporters.

His introduction helped motivate Brentford in the second half before Howe reacted with a change of his own.

The introduction of Bruno Guimaraes 12 minutes later helped Newcastle regain control of the match. The Brazilian got involved straight away and changed the tempo of the game in the away side's favour as they were able to see it out comfortably.

What a transformation

On January 14, Newcastle sat 12 points behind Brentford in the Premier League table. Just over a month later, they are a point above them following a run of 13 points out of a possible 15.

While they are still only four points above the relegation zone, Newcastle currently find themselves sitting 14th in the table – something that seemed like a dream at the turn of the year.

The seven game unbeaten run is United’s longest in the Premier League since the start of the 2011-12 season, where they finished 5th.

Newcastle won’t finish that high this time around, but the change in momentum in the relegation battle feels so significant as The Magpies made another crucial step towards Premier League survival.

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