New Delhi: It was an edge-of-the-seat contest at St James Park as Newcastle just about managed to hold off Nottingham Forest with their first-half lead, winning on matchday 26 with a margin of 4-3. The win puts Newcastle right behind Manchester City in the fourth place and the two teams are currently tied on the same points.
Nottingham Forest were at one point contenders for the title but a couple of poor away performances have put them in a spot of bother, taking just three points in the competition in the month of February.
It was Nottingham Forest who broke the deadlock in the sixth minute of the game when Callum Hudson-Odoi took advantage of Jacob Murphy’s missing throw-in. Hudso-Odoi raced to the edge of the box and had enough time for a low strike giving the visitors an early lead. However, the story just turned around for them from here.
BACK TO WINNING WAYS! 👊 pic.twitter.com/WdmthcwuV2
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 23, 2025
Lewis Miley scored the equaliser when Magpies missed a chance to score in the 23rd minute from a free-kick but the Tricky Trees failed to clear the half, and Lewis Hall from the edge of the box picked out Lewis Miley with a low cross. Miley was able to pick it near the penalty spot and then shot it into the bottom right corner.
Just two minutes later, Jacob Murphy doubled the effort when a brilliant run from Anthony Gordon on the left followed by Hall who tried to pass it to Alexander Isak was blocked by Murillo only for Murphy to strike it from close range, redeeming his previous mistake. Isak then joined the scoresheet with a brace, with the first coming from a penalty spot conversion.
Alexander Isak becomes the highest Swedish scorer in the Premier League
The fourth goal came from Joseph Willock making an amazing run and managing to trick the Forest defence and instead feeding a lovely ball to Isak in behind, who had no trouble in scoring his 50th goal in the Premier League. At home, it was Newcastle who went into the break dominating the game.
Following the break, the Magpies were hunting their fifth goal as Isak kept himself in the hunt for his hat-trick. Nottingham on the other hand were desperately looking to strike one back. Having lost their previous two away games as well, the Tricky Trees lost a good lead in the first half. In the 63rd minute, they did get one back when Nikola Milekovic scored after Chris Wood’s effort fell short of the net. Milekovic though flicked the ball to find the back of the net.
Just when it looked like Nottingham were going back with humiliation, Ryan Yates scored towards the end of regular time to make it 4-3. With three minutes added to regular time, Nottingham looked itching to score the equalizer. While Newcastle won the game, in the end, Nottingham had closed in enough to make everyone’s heart go racing before the close of play. The win means Newcastle have taken 18 points in the Premier League this season after being in losing position, which is the most amongst all the other teams.
Man of the Match
50 @premierleague goals for Alexander Isak! 🥶🇸🇪🇪🇷 pic.twitter.com/CW39BFtkj0
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 23, 2025
Alexander Isak was the standout performer with his brace proving to be the deciding factor in the game that was close enough. He had 39 touches with eight of them coming in the opposition box and made five dispossessions in the game. Overall Isak had two blocks and made two recoveries in the game. He won three duels and overall was always threatening at the opposition box.
There were close calls as Isak looked very poised for a hat-trick in the game especially in the second half. He now has scored 50 Premier League goals in just his 76th game. He is also now the highest Swedish scorer in the Premier League as he went past Freddie Ljungberg’s 48 goals tally in the competition.
Newcastle managed to hang on to their first half lead as relentless Nottingham Forest fall short in a seven goal thriller, as they lose their third consecutive away game in the Premier League. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
