Newcastle comes from behind to beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 at home
By Ed Emeanua
Newcastle’s Alexander Isak erased Emmanuel Dennis’ first half opener for Nottingham Forest before scoring an outstanding injury-time winner from the penalty spot at Forest, enlivening hopes of a top-four finish for the Toon Army Friday.
Isak calmly planted his penalty-kick into the right corner of the goalposts after Moussa Niakhate was disciplined for ball-handling in the box in a frenzied game.
Substitute Elliot Anderson felt he had pushed the scores to 2-1 when he jumped high to head-in at the back post, only to be denied by VAR for straying offside in the foreplay.
Newcastle dominated for large periods and twice in the first half alone, crashed shots against the crossbar, both times, Joe Willock spurned glorious opportunities from close range.
The home side endured pressure from the visitors, but eventually succumbed when Willock freed Isak for a timed volley into the far corner seconds to half-time.
Afterwards, the Sweden international secured the victory, thereby kick-starting joyous clips in the visitor’s zone of the Forest arena.
The result left Newcastle in sixth place on the table with only a point behind fifth placed Tottenham – with the advantage of a game to spare – while Forest straddles the relegation gulf with the leverage of a couple of points.
