Nottingham Forest 1 Newcastle 3 – United head into the international break in fine form

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·10 November 2024

Nottingham Forest 1 Newcastle 3 – United head into the international break in fine form

Nottingham Forest 1 Newcastle 3 – Sunday 10 November 2pm

Forest approached this match with Nuno Espirito Santo and Chris Wood having been named manager of the month and player of the month for October.

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United, fielding the same XI that put Arsenal to the sword last weekend, were starting Eddie Howe’s 600th match as a boss in the domestic leagues.

Ex-Mags Wood and Matz Sels were looking to do a number on their former employers. Both had been in top form this season at opposite ends of the pitch.

So much for the omens.

Anthony Gordon was on the right flank and immediately tried to beat his man on the outside, hugging the touchline. Joe Willock and Joelinton combined cleverly on the left and won the game’s first corner after four minutes.

The ball fell on the edge of Forest’s box and Ryan Yates, an old-style midfield workie ticket, smashed Tino Livramento in the face. Incompetent referee Anthony Taylor waved play on, ignoring the protocol for a head injury as well as the law on foul play. Morgan Gibbs-White took advantage of the referee’s errors, breaking clear. He ran across Dan Burn, who brought him down. A free-kick and a fifth booking for our Blyth colossus, meaning he will miss the home game against West Ham after the international break. Livramento needed two or three minutes of running repairs to his face. Accidental collision? I think not.

Willock had a quarter-chance 20 yards out on the right as we attacked Forest’s box but his shot, the first of the match, didn’t bend back enough to trouble Sels. That ended 11 minutes of stuttering play and was soon followed by a proper chance. Gordon misplaced a pass to Isak, we quickly regained possession and Willock produced a sparkling turn and cross on the left byline. The ball flew unimpeded to Gordon beyond the far post but his volley was smashed high and wide as Sels tried to close the angle.

Callum Hudson-Odoi was causing trouble on our right and Pope had to block Yates at point-blank range only yards from the far post. The referee gave a corner, wrongly, and Forest then won a free kick when Willock tripped Anthony Elanga 15 yards from the corner flag and 10 yards out.

Elanga whipped in a pacy dead-ball that Murillo attacked, in between Hall and Joelinton. The centre-half powered the ball home from seven yards out.

It was the hosts’ first meaningful attack and gave them the lead on 21 minutes against the run of play, though United had failed to test Sels at the other end.

We responded impressively and Bruno Guimaraes fired in a swerving shot from 20 yards that the keeper pushed away spectacularly. The resulting corner came to nothing despite a clever back-heel.

Worryingly, Alexander Isak was seeing little of the ball, with Gordon and Willock looking more likely to prosper. Little Joe won another corner on 28 minutes after more good work by Lewis Hall. We were still awaiting our first goal this season from such an opportunity.

A crass barge by Hudson-Odoi into the back of Guimaraes gave us another free kick 25 yards out on the right but Joelinton couldn’t keep down his header eight yards out from Gordon’s dangerous cross.

We won another corner on 32 minutes when our skipper broke powerfully through the middle. As Forest cleared and tried to break, Hall again regained possession and we earned another corner. Burn stayed up as the ball was recycled, firing in a powerful shot from the left corner of Forest’s six-yard box that Sels did well to parry away. With more than half-an-hour gone, we were bossing the midfield without being able to hit the net.

A raking Murillo pass found Alex Moreno on the Forest left. He leapt, headed beyond Livramento, ran on and sent in a dangerous low cross that Fabian Schar diverted for a corner. There was a clear danger out wide, not only from Elanga and Hudson-Odoi, who had enjoyed their visit to St James’ Park last season.

On 40 minutes Hudson-Odoi clattered into Livramento a yard from the Forest penalty area as our right-back cut in. An obvious booking, except in the eyes of Mr Taylor. Hall’s free kick was too low to penetrate the defence.

The referee proved his lack of vision a couple of minutes later when Willock, inside the area, was kicked from behind as he twisted and turned. Play was inevitably waved on, with Forest realising they would be allowed to foul and niggle almost with impunity.

Joelinton rose to the bait and was fortunate to avoid a yellow card. Predictably, Yates was a central figure in the aggro.

Gordon switched to his favoured left flank minutes before half-time. We went in trailing, despite being the better team. We had nothing to show for our efforts, mainly because Isak couldn’t get into the game and NUFC players hadn’t been able to take one of the two or three chances we had made. There was also, of course, the referee factor.

Neither manager changed personnel at the interval but Gordon and Joelinton had switched flanks. We dominated the first five minutes of the second half. Again though, we didn’t extend Sels apart from a dangerous Hall cross from the left.

Guimaraes produced a wonderful swerving shot with the outside of his left boot as we attacked down the right. Sadly for United, the ball flew inches over the bar with the keeper beaten.

Dominguez broke impressively down the Forest right and forced Pope to save low down. Within seconds, our added dynamism paid off. The equaliser came from a corner on our left in the 54th minute. Gordon swung it in and Wood, under pressure from Sean Longstaff, headed obligingly into the path of Isak six yards out. Our Swedish striker struck it instantly, first time, into the left corner of Forest’s net, via the post. A totally deserved leveller.

Jota Silva replaced Hudson-Odoi and Elliot Anderson replaced Elanga on 59 minutes as Santo tried to gain the sort of control in midfield his team had rarely been able to seize. Livramento and Hall had to an extent stifled the wide threat, though I for one was delighted to see two dangers depart.

Guimaraes, doing the work of two men, blocked a Yates cross on the byline. Yates got his head on the corner before anyone else but his effort was straight at Pope, who gathered comfortably.

Villain of the piece Yates conceded yet another free kick for a blatant foul on Guimaraes with no attempt to go for the ball. Still no booking. Unbelievable, Jeff.

On 64 minutes Isak crossed from our right flank but the ball was marginally too high for Gordon, running in from the left, to put enough power into his accurate header. A minute later Yates was finally shown a yellow after fouling Isak. From the free kick Sels punched clear and Jota broke away. He stopped on a sixpence, encouraging Burn to crash into him. Most of the City Ground yelled for a sending off. Mr Taylor kept his cards in his pockets.

Gordon burst clear from the blocked free kick and put in Willock on our right. His cross found Isak unmarked and only eight yards from goal. He had to lean back to strike the first-time volley. United’s fans behind the net expected it to bulge but the ball flew a couple of feet wide of the post with Sels static. Agonisingly close on 67 minutes.

That was Willock’s last meaningful contribution. Sandro Tonali replaced him in our first substitution on 69 minutes. Forest were preparing more changes when our Italian thoroughbred found Isak, who passed to Joelinton on the right. He advanced towards the edge of the box while Livramento overlapped to distract the defence. Having tapped the ball a few times with his right foot, the Brazilian powerhouse whipped a vicious, swerving shot into the far corner of the net with his left boot. Kerpow! We were ahead for the first time on 72 minutes.

Chasing the game, Santo replaced Dominguez with Ramon Sosa. Forest pressed us back for a few minutes without testing Pope, who had already made the second of his two saves in a match that, with stoppages, lasted 101 minutes. Kudos to United for defending resolutely from back to front.

The keeper did well to clutch a dinked cross from Aina as Wood waited to make amends for his unwitting assist. Harvey Barnes was being readied but didn’t replace Gordon until after Jota put in a top cross that Elanga headed across goal. Moreno was inches from reaching the ball for what would have been a tap-in.

Gordon then limped off and the supersub’s impact was almost immediate. On 83 minutes, near halfway on the left, he cleverly flicked the ball first-time to Guimaraes. He passed forwards to Tonali, who found Barnes sprinting clear. We all knew what was coming; at least Sels thought he did.

Barnes cut inside, reached the edge of the box, stood up Milenkovic and the keeper moved to cover his far post. Fooled you! Barnes produced a clever variation on his typical strike, this time shooting strongly between the defender’s feet and inside the near post with Sels unbalanced. Thank you very much. A 3-1 scoreline that was a fair reflection of the afternoon’s play.

Santo threw the dice for a final time, replacing Moreno and Elanga with James Ward-Prowse and Taiwo Awoniyi. Meanwhile, Yates showcased his WWE skills for the umpteenth time, hauling down Joelinton in the centre-circle to concede another free kick.

The latest substitutes had as little impact as Anderson, who cut a frustrated figure in his first match against his long-time club. A pointless wrestle on Joelinton summed up the Geordie’s 40-odd minutes.

In the last attack, Guimaraes won the ball in midfield (he gave a masterclass today) and put Barnes clear with a measured pass. Tonali was well placed on the inside but the winger chose to shoot, missing the target. There was barely time for Will Osula to make the briefest of cameo appearances. Almost as soon as he crossed the white line, the referee blew up. If only . . .

This was a managerial triumph for Howe as he passed another milestone in his impressive career. We are lucky to have him on the touchline. United are now only one point behind Forest, having properly burst their bubble. More importantly, the Champions League places are only a point away, with 27 Premier League matches of this much-interrupted season remaining.

Raise a glass to Eddie and the Hot Rods tonight.

Nottingham Forest 1 Newcastle 3 – Sunday 10 November 2pm

(Stats via BBC Sport)

Newcastle United:

Isak 54, Joelinton 72, Barnes 83

Forest:

Murillo 21

(Half-time stats in brackets)

Possession was Newcastle 56% (60%) Forest 44% (40%)

Total shots were Newcastle 17 (7) Forest 9 (3)

Shots on target were Newcastle 6 (2) Forest 3 (1)

Corners were Newcastle 5 (4) Forest 4 (2)