Newcastle United (A) 23/02/25

 

Newcastle United 4-3 Nottingham Forest

Miley 23'                                     Hudson-Odoi 6'

Murphy 25'                                 Milenkovic 63'

Isak 33' (Pen), 34'                       Yates 90'

 

If we had been told a year ago that this fixture would be huge in our race for Champions League, we all would’ve laughed. These away trips used to be a free hit but now they can be classed as 6 pointers.

Our record against Newcastle since getting promoted 3 seasons ago is poor. We’ve only won 1 out of 5 fixtures in that time. That victory came at St James Park on Boxing Day last season in what was Nuno’s first away game for the club. However, the last time the Reds won consecutively at Tyneside was 1987/88 and 1988/89. In the fixture at the City Ground in November, Forest fell to a 3-1 loss. Murillo opened the scoring with his first professional goal but the Mags went on to take the 3 points. With both teams struggling recently this game was going to be exciting.

The start couldn’t have been better for the visitors. Tino Livramento took a throw-in in his own half which Jacob Murphy ran onto. He let the ball bounce but pressuring him was Callum Hudson-Odoi who pinched the ball off him. He drove towards goal and shot from 25 yards out which ended up in him finding the bottom left corner. My dad knew it was going in; he starting celebrating before the net buldged! That’s Hudson-Odoi’s first start in over a month since getting injured against Southampton in January. Despite going ahead, the Reds never settled and the Toon started to dominate. They had lost their 2 previous home games but hadn’t lost 3 in a row since Steve Bruce was in charge 4 years ago. The warning signs started to show as the hosts nearly found an equaliser. Livramento made the run in behind down the right before teasing a ball across the face of goal. Anthony Gordon came sliding in but couldn’t find the contact to turn it home.

Moments later the equaliser was found. Lewis Hall whipped in a free kick from the left but no black and white shirt could turn it home. The ball was recycled by Joe Willock who passed back to Gordon to put the ball back into the area. It landed at the feet of teenager Lewis Miley who took a few touches before finishing into the bottom right corner. You could’ve blinked and you would’ve missed the turnaround. Gordon sent a ball forward for Alexander Isak who was up against Milenkovic down the left. He flicked it back for Hall whose run wasn’t followed by Anthony Elanga. He continued driving into the box and tried a low cross across the 6-yard box. This was blocked by Murillo but unfortunately it looked to be bouncing into the net. Jacob Murphy made sure of this by poking it in with his knees.

Trying to increase their lead further, the hosts were attacking down the left. Hall fired a ball into the box but Ola Aina jumped up to block it. As he jumped, the right back turned and lifted his elbow. All the Mags' players and fans appealed for penalty and after a VAR check, Jarrod Gillett was sent to the monitor where he changed his mind and awarded a penalty. Isak took his run up and scored straight down the middle. Matz Sels tried to read him and didn’t dive but stood up too late to save it. He did manage to get a hand to it though. Forest were playing their worst half of football all season, being completely outplayed and things continued to worsen. Following a save, Nick Pope looked to get his team out quickly. He rolled the ball to Hall who passed to Willock down the left. For some reason, Chris Wood was up against him. The striker tried to trip him from behind but the winger broke away before passing to Isak in the box. He took on a shot from a tight angle and was helped by the block of Murillo’s foot to send it looping into the net. He now has 50 Premier League goals to his name. The Reds were longing to hear the half-time whistle in a disastrous first half. Absolute chaos!

The hosts nearly found a 5th at the start of the second period. Hall sent in a corner from the right which was met by Fabian Schar but his header was stopped by the post. In hope of pulling one back, Elliot Anderson found Gibbs-White on the right. He crossed into the box towards the far post where Neco Williams headed back across goal. Elanga seemed to have the whole net to tap into from close range but he lifted his leg and sent the ball flying over the crossbar. Nuno had clearly got into his team at half time as they were playing much better. The Mags started to panic on the ball and give it away in their own half. The panic started to slightly raise as Forest clawed one back. Anderson put in a corner from the right that was flicked on at the near post by Elanga. Wood recycled the ball at the far post and volleyed it back into the danger area. Milenkovic was in there and unusually flicked the ball into the bottom right corner.

With 25 minutes still left on the clock, Newcastle sloppy in possession and Forest on top, you could begin to feel the unease around the stadium. The Reds had another corner from the right which was met by Murillo but his header sailed just wide of the right post. As the game entered the 90th minute, the hosts started to think the game was done. Ryan Yates had other ideas. Elanga was the one taking the corner now but his attempt evaded everyone at the near post. Luckily, it fell to Gibbs-White around 8 yards out who flicked the ball up and went for goal on the volley. His shot was blocked by Schar but right into the path of Yates who side footed into the bottom right corner. However, time was running out and with the 4th official indicating only 3 minutes of stoppage time and the hosts time wasting, this epic comeback was over.

At half time, I was so tempted to ask my dad if we could leave and I have never done that before. I have not seen a 45-minute performance as bad as that in a long while. We looked so unbothered. The first goal arguably came from a Gordon dive and in my opinion their penalty should not have been awarded. However, for their other 2, the laziness of both Elanga and Aina to not track runs or get back was unacceptable. They left brilliant attacking talent free and even left Woody to do their job. Newcastle looked like scoring every time they came forward. In the second half, we were so much better and we put them under pressure. They were giving the ball away to us cheaply and it’s a shame we couldn’t capitalise. I am proud of the way we looked to come back and I thought we could find an equaliser until I saw 3 minutes. That was not enough after 2 goals, subs and all their time wasting. I also think Nuno should’ve made attacking changes once it was 4-2 to give us that extra boost. We have done well though because that is the first time we’ve lost 3 in a row since December 2023.

 

Newcastle: Pope; Hall, Burn, Schar, Livramento; Miley, Guimaraes, Willock (Tonali 70’); Gordon, Isak (Wilson 87’), Murphy (Barnes 87’)

Forest: Sels; Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Aina; Anderson (Sangare 77’), Dominguez (Yates 76’); Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Elanga; Wood