Premier League

NEWCASTLE suffered two more significant injury blows on Saturday after Fabian Schar and Joelinton were forced off against Fulham.Schar was the first to make way after appearing to pull his hamstring in the 14th minute.
Joelinton was forced off with a hamstring issueCredit: Getty
Fabian Schar was on the pitch for just 14 minutes before being substituted due to injuryCredit: Rex
The defender was replaced by Emil Krafth, who has been limited to just three Premier League appearances so far this season.
Eddie Howe’s side suffered another major setback when Joelinton hobbled off the pitch – also with a hamstring issue – in the 36th minute.
He made way for 17-year-old Lewis Miley shortly before half time.
Devastated Newcastle fans took to social media to react, with one person writing: “Joelinton off injured. Wake me up from this horror.”
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Another commented: “Surely not Joelinton as well. Surely f***ing not.”
A third wrote: “Joelinton now off injured. What on earth is going on for these injuries to keep occurring?”
While a fourth added: “Schar and Joelinton both off injured. They’re going to have no players left at this rate.”
Newcastle have already suffered several injury setbacks this season.
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Sven Botman has been unavailable since the start of the campaign with a knee injury.
Joe Willock is set to be unavailable until the new year due to an Achilles injury, as is Harvey Barnes with a foot issue.
Jacob Murphy, Matt Targett, Elliot Anderson and Nick Pope are also among the absentees.
And Sandro Tonali has been banned from football until August due to betting breaches.
But Newcastle were at least able to celebrate victory over the West Londoners.
Following a horror challenge which saw Fulham’s Raul Jimenez sent off, the Toon ran out 3-0 winners with second half goals from Lewis Miley, Miguel Almiron and Dan Burn. More

RAUL JIMENEZ was sent off for a bonkers challenge on Newcastle star Sean Longstaff.Fans joked the striker turned into prime Jackie Chan after initially diving in with a kung-fu kick.
Raul Jimenez initially dived in with a kung-fu kick
Fans compared the striker to Jackie Chan
Jimenez crashed into Sean Longstaff’s head with his bizarre challenge
Referee Sam Barrott upped Jimenez’s punishment to a red card after reviewing the incident on the VAR monitorCredit: Getty
Jimenez then tried to pull out of the challenge by turning away from Longstaff, but he crashed into the Newcastle midfielder – hitting him in the face with his hip which left him in a heap on the floor.
Moments before Jimenez appeared to be elbowed in the head by Toon centre-back Jamal Lascelles.
Referee Sam Barrott initially awarded a free-kick and booked Jimenez.
But VAR Michael Salisbury told Barrott to review the incident on the monitor and he increased the punishment to a red card for serious foul play.
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Fans were shocked by the challenge with one suggesting it was “straight out of WWE”.
Another added: “Raul Jimenez moving like Jackie Chan in his prime, what was he thinking?”
A third joked: “Raul Jimenez thought he was Rey Mysterio.”
And another commented: “What Raul Jimenez thinking? He came FLYING in.”
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The red card is a big blow for Fulham as Jimenez will now miss games against Everton, Burnley and Bournemouth over the busy festive period.
The Mexican had just started to hit form too with three goals in his previous two matches.
Jimenez joined the Cottagers in the summer following a five-year spell at Wolves/ More

FOOTBALL fans have ripped into Crystal Palace after they named a hugely defensive starting XI for their trip to Manchester City.Roy Hodgson’s men head to the champions without a win in five games.
Roy Hodgson has been criticised for his team selection for the trip to Manchester CityCredit: Reuters
One Crystal Palace fan mocked up this formation as their starting line-upCredit: Twitter
And it seems Roy Hodgson is prioritising keeping things tight at the back.
But those on social media were left bitterly unimpressed by the XI named for the clash at the Etihad.
The Palace XI for the match was named as: Henderson, Clyne, Ward, Guehi, Andersen, Mitchell, Olise, Riedewald, Richards, Schlupp, Mateta.
The Eagles line up with Dean Henderson in goal, but appear to have named a back SIX of Nathaniel Clyne, Joel Ward, Marc Guehi, Joachim Andersen, Tyrick Mitchell and Chris Richards.
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Defensive midfielder Jairo Riedewald has been picked to sit in front of the back five.
Michael Olise, Jeffrey Schlupp and Jean-Philippe Mateta are the only recognised offensive players in Palace’s side – although even Schlupp is more defensively minded.
Football supporters on social media were quick to tear into Hodgson’s selection, while others have simply mocked the team.
One said: “My eyes are bleeding.”
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While another joked: “Surely we need more defenders in that team 😆.”
A third replied: “3 CBs. 3 Fullbacks. Riedewald (CDM or FB). Schlupp (FB or CM). Olise ✅. Mateta.”
And a fourth said: “The old 6-3-1.”
With a fifth responding: “This must be one of the all time worst PL lineups.”
Palace head into the clash in 15th place in the Premier League table, seven points above the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, Man City can move within a point of Liverpool at the top with a victory on Saturday afternoon. More

DEJAN KULUSEVSKI was not best pleased after Richarlison appeared to ruin his pre-planned goal celebration.The Tottenham winger capitalised on Matt Turner’s poor clearance to blast in his side’s second goal of Friday’s 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest.
Dejan Kulusevski gave Richarlison a glare after ruining his celebration
The Brazilian smashed the ball into the crowd after his team-mate scoredCredit: PA
The Swedish winger eventually got hold of a ball and stuffed it up his topCredit: Getty
His powerful right-footed strike was too hot for Turner to handle and the American goalkeeper could only deflect the ball into the back of the net.
And Kulusevski clearly wanted to perform a very specific and touching celebration to dedicate the goal to someone special.
The Sweden international’s stunning fiancee Eldina Ahmic is currently pregnant and the footballer was keen to go public with the news in a lovely way.
But his idea to put the ball up his shirt to replicate a growing baby bump was thwarted by Richarlison.
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The Brazilian forward was at the back post when the goal was scored and immediately grabbed the ball as it bounced out of the net.
And as Kulusevski ran away in delight, the ex-Everton man booted the Nike yellow Premier League ball into the stand of celebrating Spurs fans behind the goal.
So when his team-mate came over to do the celebration, he was very confused to find no ball ready for him and gave Richarlison a puzzled look.
He then appeared to tell the £60million man to go and fetch one of the spare match balls at the side of the pitch while he started off with his LeBron James-style ‘Silencer’ move.
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And Richarlison duly obliged, throwing Kulusevski a ball which he then stuffed under his top and made a heart with his hands for the camera before blowing a kiss to the camera and giving the ball a peck.
The masked goalscorer and his glamorous partner – who currently have a dog and got engaged in May – shared a joint Instagram post on Friday night with pictures of the celebration.
They captioned it: “Our family is growing, see you soon baby girl.”
But while there were plenty of comments congratulating the happy couple, others could not get over the hilarious moment with Richarlison.
One said: “Quite funny that Kulu has obviously told the players about a pre-meditated celebration with the ball but Richy still boots it away, then has to go and get another.”
Another wrote: “Kulusevski wanted the ball for a baby celebration as he is becoming a father… Richarlison decides to smash the ball away not knowing!”
A third added: “Kulusevski is becoming a dad and Richarlison almost messed his celebration up.”
And a final user commented: “Why did Richarlison kick the baby? No Richarlison, no kick the baby.”
Tottenham’s win at the City Ground saw them move on to 33 points – level with fourth-placed Manchester City and six clear of Manchester United.
Kulusevski made it 2-0 on 65 minutesCredit: Reuters
The footballer and his partner took to Instagram to make the news officialCredit: Getty More