Nott'm Forest 2 Newcastle 3
Nottingham Forest welcomed Eddie Howe’s side to the City Ground as they were still searching for their first win in the Premier League in the calendar year. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side had pretty much a full strength side for this one.
The hosts had the first chance of the game as Tavares broke into the box. He held it up well before picking out the run of Gibbs-White. His first time shot fizzed past the far post. Big chance for an early goal to take the lead. You would expect better from the Forest talisman.
Newcastle came forward as the impressive Gordon found Longstaff in the middle of the park. Having notched some goals of late, he shot from distance, forcing a save from Sels. The hosts never cleared the danger fully with The Magpies knocking on the door.
Trippier swung a pinpoint cross in from the right wing and it was met by a stunning volley from Guimaraes to give the visitors the lead. If Morgan Gibbs-White wasn’t feeling bad enough for that miss, he would’ve been at this point.
Credit: @NUFC
Forest had a big chance to draw level as Burn was pulled out of position and Elanga was sent clean through. As he was baring down on goal, he only had one thing on his mind. However, Dubravka did well to block the shot but the former Man Utd winger should have done better.
Gibbs-White then slotted a pass into the path of Elanga once again, this time he tucked it under Dubravka to drive the City Ground wild. What the Newcastle keeper was doing outside of his box, only he will know, but it made the job easier for the Forest player.
Fabian Schar scored two goals at Villa Park the other week and as Botman headed the ball to his fellow centre-back, he struck the ball into the bottom corner to restore The Magpies’ lead. Eddie Howe may consider playing him up front if this form continues.
One thing you can never say about Nottingham Forest is that they are quitters. They continued to try and find a way back into this game, deep into added time. Hudson-Odoi had a shot from the edge of the box which took a massive deflection off Miley and flew into the back of the net.
On reflection of the first half, it was no more than the hosts had deserved. It was a critical time to get a goal and you could see just how deflated Newcastle were that they could not hold on to their lead until the half-time interval.
As the Forest winger continued to torment the visitors after the break, Trippier looked to see the ball out for a goal kick. Looking to shield the ball, it seemed to strike his arm and the majority of the City Ground appealed for a spot kick.
Credit: @NUFC
The referee was not interested, neither was the VAR studio, and as the replay showed his arm was in a pretty natural position. All The Magpies can be glad of is that they did not have Chris Kavanagh refereeing the game or they would find themselves behind.
Yates then played in Awoniyi who did well to finish from a tight angle. Sadly for the home faithful, and the striker, the referee’s assistant then raised their flag for an offside in the last 12 months. It seems ridiculous that they wait so long to make their decision nowadays.
The Forest striker had another chance as he ran through on goal and as Dubravka spread himself, Awoniyi ended up going to ground. He turned to the referee and demanded a penalty. VAR reviewed the incident and decided there was no clear and obvious error to the decision of no penalty.
Looking at the replay, Awoniyi’s boot does strike the arm of the keeper. Many would think that he was simulating the foul to try and get a penalty but he could have tapped the ball into an empty net had he stayed on his feet. Baring that in mind, it makes no sense and the hosts were hard done by.
This is where the VAR system is a complete joke as they are not checking to see if it was a penalty but if it was a clear and obvious error by the referee. Considering the standard of officiating in this league, maybe we should take that part out and just take it as a given that an error has been made.
Then Nottingham Forest turned into a ‘reverse Robin Hood’, taking from the poor to give to the rich as they gifted the visitors the ball. Guimaraes accepted the gift and drove his shot into the bottom corner to seal victory for The Magpies and leave Forest still searching for that elusive win of 2024.
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