Key events
“For all their success so far this season,” writes Hasan, “one of Forest’s starkest vulnerabilities is that when they lose they tend to lose royally. It’s a very thin silver lining to see them put up a fight this time round but the spirit of Cloughie would remind me that good defences win titles, not silver linings (presumably before clipping me around the earhole).”
Only if you invaded the pitch. But otherwise, Forest are doing brilliantly; top four this term, title next.
Isak tells Sky it was a brilliant first half but Newcastle dropped a bit second half and conceded four goals, something they’ll have to work on. On his open, he’d made up his mind to go central and the goalie hung on a long time, but he might’ve left his line and it’s a big win.
City v Liverpool will soon be upon us. Join Rob Smyth for the best of the buildup:
It’s a funny thing, really: Newcastle went behind, punished their opponents’ effrontery by four in 12 minutes and willl, you’d assume, now be enjoying a major going-over from their manager. Rightly so, too: they weren’t at it second half and were nearly made to pay.
How the table looks:
FULL TIME: Newcastle United 4-3 Nottingham Forest
Newcastle hang on.
90+4 min Liveramento humps clear, Wilson is away … but he’s not got the pace to escape Murillo, who blocks him and his shot.
90+3 min Ball in behind the Newcastle defence down the left, Livaramento clears before Elanga can do anything.
90+2 min Ball down the line for Gibbs-White, he digs out a cross fort Yates, and the header goes over, but did Gordon shove him? He did, but only because he too was shoved, by Aina, and Newcastle will take the goalkick. What a strange game this has been; what a strange game this is.
GOAL! Newcastle United 4-3 Nottingham Forest (Yates 90)
Goodness me! The corner is poor but Newcastle can’t clear at the front post, Wood has a go at it, Schar blocks, and Yates rams home a livener! Three minutes of added time for Forest to force an equaliser! What on earth are Newcastle playing at!
90 min A swirling cross from I don’t see who, turned over the bar by Pope.
89 min Andy Hinchcliffe gives Hall player of the match and that’s a solid call. He might’ve gone for Miley, whose goal on comeback changed the game, but the other Lewis earned it too.
87 min Forest win a free-kick out on the right and Murillo, after shaping to cross, instead snaps it down the line for Hudson-Odoi, who spirits a delectable ball into the middle, on the run, and there’s no one on their toes able to poke, nudge or bundle home.
87 min Change for Newcastle, Wilson replacing Isak, who hasn’t been at his best, but whose movement has been very good.
85 min Aina has loads of time out on the right, shaping to cross before nipping inside the now-committed Hall and coaxing into the middle for Milenkovic! But peeling away to get head behind ball, he can only send an effort just wide of the far post. Phew! Newcastle are making hard work of this; Forest are making them make hard work of this.
83 min “After another poor weekend for Arsenal and Isak showing his brilliance again, what sort of price do you think he could command now? Let’s assume that the £200m for Neymar is sovereign state wealth and the £105m for Declan Rice was the very bottom rung of the scale, would Arsenal be able or willing to pay, say £150m? Would the returns in terms of trophies (unguaranteed) be worth it? Shirt sales (equally unguaranteed)? Attendance – high anyway? Hard to swallow, but the pelters if nothing happens will be severe. And the alternatives don’t look anything like as persuasive.”
Any transfer that succeeds is worth the money the buying club is lucky enough to pay. But would Isak even want Arsenal? The current team is nearing the end of a cycle, perhaps on the way down more than the way up,
80 min Forest have shown decent bottle in keeping Newcastle under pressure this half; they’re a very impressive outfit, but with Arsenal visiting the City Ground in midweek, they’ve work to do to avoid losing a third match on the spin, assuming they can’t retrieve this one. As Liverpool are able to confirm, such runs can become difficult to abort, even if, at their genesis, they seemed like nothing to worry about.
79 min The delivery is decent too, but a flick means the ball arrives at Murillo quickly and unexpectedly; he’s unable to control his effort, heading wide.
78 min Elanga robs Livramento, who hangs on to possession far too long, Hudson-Odoi collects, slips a return in behind … and Hall slides into a fine challenge. Get that wrong and it’s a penalty, but instead it’s a corner.
76 min Changes for Forest: Yates for Dominguez and Sangare for Anderson. This looks a physical call rather than a tactical one, Nuno seeking to keep the pressure on Newcastle by swapping tired legs for fresh ones.
76 min Apparently there’s another game on this afternoon. The great Rob Smyth has the buildup.
74 min Hall’s been excellent and when he rides a shove from Gibbs-White then veers inside Aina, Dominguez has seen enough, knocking him over at cost of a booking.
71 min “Gordon ‘s hair is giving me Joey Boswell from Bread vibes,” suggests Jim Hinks. “I’m thinking more the second actor to play Joey Boswell rather than the first, although my memory could be deceiving me.”
Yes!
And what a theme-tune, the song the Beach Boys wish they’d written, that Pet Sounds wishes it owned.
70 min Changes for Newcastle, Barnes and Tonali replacing Willock and Murphy. That makes sense: Howe will want his team to show greater energy and calmness.
68 min Since the break, Isak has touched the ball four times; in the first, he had 22 in the Forest half. Meantime, Forest have a free-kick which they’ll pump into the box, and when they do, Burns’ header reaches Anderson, whose shot hits Miely’s hand, but from too close for the ref to perceive a penalty; Gibbs-White isn’t happy and nor is Nuno, but this isn’t comparable to the Aina one.
66 min Can Newcastle rediscover their first-half intensity? I’m absolutely certain the thing they’ll have had drummed into them at half-time was not to sit off, the perils of so doing made clear. But here we are, and if Forest score next, who knows how this might end?
65 min Good work from Wood, dropping off to feed Elanga, who bounces into the box, but Burn slides in and pulls off a superbly-timed recovery-challenge.
GOAL! Newcastle United 4-2 Nottingham Forest (Milenkovic 64)
Well! Anderson, warmly applauded as he goes to take the corner, swings out towards the back post, Wood does well to forces back into the middle, and Milenkovic adjusts feet and body well to hook in from an awkward height. That was coming, and might this not yet be over?
62 min I wonder if we might see Sandro Tonali soon – Nerwcastle could use his composure on the ball. Meantime, Forest have a corner…
61 min By way of comparison:
59 min We see this a lot, I guess: a game is finished by half-time, so the second period is sleepy. And that’s what this is, Forest huffing and puffing, Newcastle doing as little at they can.
57 min “Gordon’s Beehive,” begins Dan Christmas. “Surely he went in to the barbers with a picture of Princess Di circa 1992.”
I was thinking more Brigitte Nielsen.
56 min Forest have improved but Newcastle are too relaxed, Elanga finding space to cross and narrowly missing the men in the middle.
55 min A lax first touch from Livramento means he’s now tanking into a 50/50 with Dominguez, missing ball but not man; he’s booked.
54 min What a chance for Forest! Gibbs-White hangs up a cross to the back post, Williams is up well and way above Murphy to knock back across, and Elanga is there … but opting for a leaping shot, not a header, he skews the ball sideways from in front of the net, keeper naewhere.
52 min Willock beats Anderson, who scythes through him and is booked – though, given the ball had broken to Gordon, the ref might’ve played advantage.
51 min In comms, they’re discussing how well Hall’s played, and they’re right – he gives Newcastle balance, as well as aggression at both ends of the pitch. With Livramento looking a lock for the right, Eddie Howe’s men are well-served at full-back and could be for a decade.
49 min …and it picks out Schar, somehow left unattended inside the box; he loops a header that cannons the far post, just below the angle, and once more that is very poor defending from Forest.
49 min Newcastle win a corner down the right…
47 min “The combo of possession loss and goalie out of position was League 2 level defending by Toon,” says Mark Turner of Forest’s goal, which seems a while ago now. ‘“But don’t take it away from Hudson-Odoi, that was a top class finish from a lightning-fast thinker. Forest bought him for peanuts, got him back to form and confidence, he’ll go back to a London club with an extra zero on the price.”
A few years ago I was on a train and an agent-type was loudly advising whoever he was talking at that “Jadon” was further along than “Callum”, but “Callum” was by the far the bigger talent. I hate to admit it, but he was right.
46 min I doubt Nuno was all that pleased with his charges, who got a little silly after going behind. Well though Newcastle played, it shouldn’t have been as easy as it was for them to find spaces to attack.
46 min We go again…
Half-time email: “I stepped away from the screen for 15 minutes with Forest one-nil up,” admits Kári Tulinius. “When I got back I thought the score-counter was glitching. Lesson learned: never stop watching football.”
I hope this confession lightens your guilt. Bless you my son.
