Newcastle United Carabao Cup (H) 28/08/24

 

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Newcastle United 

Jota Silva 50'                                Willock 1'

Newcastle win 4-3 on penalties 

 

When we all watched the Carabao Cup draw on the 14^th of August, we were hoping for a League 1 or 2 side away. We got pulled out as the home side and anticipation kicked in with Derby and Leicester still not being drawn out. Curtis Davis pulled out ball number 15. Newcastle United. This wasn’t going to be an easy start, but we knew had every chance.

In the Premier League last season, the Reds defeated Newcastle at St James Park in a huge 3-1 win, Nuno’s first away game. In the home fixture, a lively game saw us lose narrowly 3-2. As for the Carabao Cup, the clubs aren’t strangers in meeting. The last two cup fixtures vs the Toon back in 2017/18 and 2018/19 saw the Reds come out on top. Could they make it 3 in a row?

We didn’t know whether Nuno would rotate players, or field a stronger team to try to go on a cup run. Although it wasn’t usual starters, 6 of our new signings made their home debut, we still fielded a competitive team to battle against Newcastle’s almost starting eleven. A mention to young centre back, Zac Abbott who made his professional debut for his boyhood club. Newcastle were boosted by the return of Sandro Tonali who returned from his lengthy betting ban.

Kick off got underway beneath the City Ground lights but it wasn’t long until the deadlock was broken. The Magpies got forward within 19 second, breaking through the Forest defence. Alexander Isak received the ball down the right and drove towards goal. He decided to shoot from a difficult angle just outside the box but Carlos Miguel got down to make the save. He parried the ball directly into the path of an on-running Joe Willock who had an easy finish into an open net.

The visitors nearly made it 2-0 just 3 minutes in. Goal scorer, Willock, skipped past multiple Reds’ players down the left. He played the ball back to Isak who found Tonali, completely unmarked. He took on the first-time finish but Miguel made himself big to prevent Forest’s task getting even more difficult. Forest did have a ball cleared off the line by Dan Burn, Ramon Sosa whipped in a cross that Nick Pope looked to collect easily but Alex Moreno got his head to the ball first, creating an awkward situation for the goalkeeper. Forest dominated the rest of the first half as they tried to find an equalizer. Sosa delivered in a free kick from the right which Pope didn’t come to collect. It missed 2 Forest players before Taiwo Awoniyi could only head over on the stretch.

Not long after the second half got underway, Forest scored a well-deserved equalizer. It had been coming but Forest fans breathed a sigh of relief, “you’ve lost that loving feeling”, rang out around the City ground. Moreno put a long throw into the box which Newcastle failed to clear. The ball landed to new signing, Jota Silva, 10 yards out. He emphatically struck the ball towards goal and his attempt went in off the crossbar. His reaction made it clear how much he had enjoyed his first goal in the Garibaldi and he’s already won fans over with his work rate.

The game started to slow down and a Forest Fan was even caught knitting in the crowd due to little action happening on the field. It was the visitors who had the better chances to find a winner. Anthony Gordon whipped a corner from the right which was met by Burn at the back post. He looked to have a free header but his chance went just narrowly wide. Harvey Barnes had a chance of his own after linking up with the substitute, Tino Livramento, down the right side. Livramento received the ball from Barnes and wriggled free down the byline before pulling the ball back to the Englishman. His attempt could only find the side netting. A heart in mouth moment for many home fans.

One last chance for the Magpies as Lewis Hall tried to find the top right corner following a cleared ball from a cross. From the edge of the box, he looked to be the hero, but Miguel reacted well to send it behind for a corner. Despite Newcastle’s strong finish, the fulltime score was 1-1 so to penalties we went. First penalty was from Callum Hudson-Odoi in front of the Trent End. His spot kick was calm and collected as he thundered the ball past Pope. Isak scored a similar finish to Hudson-Odoi, just on the other side of the goal. Nikola Milenkovic calmly rolled the ball into the bottom right corner before it was Joelinton’s turn. A good height for a goalkeeper to save as Miguel did, guessing the right way to give Forest the advantage. Neco Williams put away a brilliant penalty as did Bruno Guimaraes. Ibrahim Sangare stepped up after a good cameo off the bench but could only hit his attempt onto the crossbar. Gordon sent Miguel the wrong way to level the shootout. Forest’s 5^th and finally penalty was Awoniyi. His penalty blasted miles off the bar to the shock of everyone. Up stepped Sean Longstaff to win the shootout and send Newcastle to the 3^rd round. He did so casually, rolling it into the net.

I’m very happy with our performance last night and I think we did well to match a strong Newcastle side especially with the team we fielded. It shows our strength in depth is very good and we can rotate if we need to. We played some good attacking football but again the final pass or finish just wasn’t there. I was particularly impressed with Jota Silva who was just running around everywhere and Alex Moreno who seemed very strong in both defence and attack. I do feel for both Sangare and Taiwo but that’s what comes with a penalty shootout. This gives us a chance to focus on a higher league finish. One of my highlights of the night was getting a wave from Danilo who was sit in a box behind me. Onto Wolves now. COYR!

 

Forest: Miguel; Boly, Abbott (Milenkovic 60'), Omobamidele; da Silva Moreira (Williams 68'), Anderson (Elanga 79'), Dominguez, Moreno; Jota Silva (Sangare 61'), Awoniyi, Sosa (Hudson-Odoi 68')

 

Newcastle United: Pope; Trippier (Livramento 62'), Krafth, Burn, Hall; Willock (Guimaraes 15'), Tonali (Longstaff 62'), Joelinton; Almiron (Gordon 62'), Isak, Barnes