AND so, the upturn continues. Having beaten Chelsea and Arsenal on Tyneside, a resurgent Newcastle proved their improvement is not consigned to St James’ Park as they overturned a half-time deficit to claim a thoroughly-deserved victory at Nottingham Forest.
Trailing to Murillo’s opener, and having dominated possession before the break without really threatening to do much with it, the Magpies found their cutting edge in the second half.
Alexander Isak’s fourth goal in as many matches began the turnaround, before Joelinton, whose switch to the right-hand side helped spark Newcastle’s improvement, fired the Magpies into the lead with a brilliant curled finish.
Harvey Barnes’ late strike after coming off the bench settled things, ensuring that Eddie Howe’s side will head into the international break with a spring in their step. A season that was in danger of collapsing long before Christmas has been well and truly reenergised in the last couple of weeks.
By the end, Newcastle had completely dominated a Forest side who were being touted as the Premier League’s surprise package prior to kick-off. In truth, they had started reasonably brightly prior to falling behind, and might well have been playing against ten men had referee Anthony Taylor spotted the flailing elbow from Ryan Yates that caught Tino Livramento in the face.
Instead, with Taylor seemingly oblivious to the offence, Newcastle conceded a 21st-minute opener that was the result of a succession of needless small errors, starting with Joe Willock’s ill-advised decision to lunge in on Anthony Elanga close to the right touchline. No one was marking Murillo as Elanga swung the resultant free-kick into the middle, and the defender darted in front of a static Joelinton to head home.
It was a soft goal to concede, and came during a first half that saw Newcastle enjoy plenty of possession, only for their final ball to let them down.
Both full-backs attacked effectively again, with Lewis Hall, in particular, maintaining his fine run of form, but Anthony Gordon’s recent muted spell continued, with even a switch to his preferred left-hand side initially failing to spark him into life.
The Magpies fashioned one decent attempt at an equaliser before the interval, but while Longstaff and Joelinton combined neatly to set up Dan Burn, the defender’s side-footed effort was straight at former Newcastle goalkeeper Matz Sels, who was able to make a simple save.
Nevertheless, it was the visitors who were doing most of the attacking and playing the best football, and they threatened again five minutes into the second half, with Bruno Guimaraes flicking a first-time strike just over with the outside of his foot.
Forest, for all that they went into the game on a fine run of form, were devoid of attacking ideas, and Newcastle’s mounting pressure paid dividends when they equalised with a set-piece goal of their own nine minutes into the second half.
Longstaff challenged Chris Wood from Gordon’s corner, and when the ball dropped to Isak, the Swede fired home an instinctive finish via the inside of the post.
He almost made it five midway through the second half as Newcastle launched a magnificent counter-attacking move that saw them sweep from one end of the field to the other. Willock picked out Isak with his cross after Gordon released him down the right, but while Newcastle’s leading scorer caught his first-time volley perfectly, the ball whistled just wide of the right-hand post.
The Magpies had the bit between their teeth though, and they were not to be denied when they broke forward dangerously again in the 72nd minute. Substitute Sandro Tonali picked up a loose ball and found Isak, who spread the play to Joelinton on the right. The Brazilian stepped inside Elanga, and from 20 yards, curled a superb finish into the far corner.
Newcastle’s substitutes then combined to make the game safe with seven minutes remaining. Tonali played Barnes into the left of the box, and the winger drilled a low finish past Sels’ right hand.
