Newcastle United secured a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, moving them closer to fourth-placed Tottenham.
The match took place on Friday night at the raucous City Ground.
Despite early domination by Newcastle, Forest took the lead midway through the first half, thanks to a clinical chip from Emmanuel Dennis after intercepting a hospital pass back to Nick Pope by Sven Botman.
Newcastle rattled the woodwork twice in the first half through Alexander Isak’s deflected shot and Sean Longstaff’s looping effort, which ended up back in the field of play.
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Newcastle found an equalizer just before the break. Joe Willock raced in behind the Forest defense and crossed for Isak, who produced a wonderful improvised finish with his shin to beat Keylor Navas and bounce the ball in off the far post.
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After the restart, Newcastle came close to taking the lead when substitute Elliot Anderson met Kieran Trippier’s deep cross, only for Navas to parry it over the bar.
Anderson was not to be denied a second time when Isak’s cross found him at the back post, but a lengthy VAR check judged Longstaff to have been offside when Isak’s initial ball was played in.
Newcastle’s exuberance to go ahead saw them open up at the back, with Brennan Johnson running at Botman and forcing a low save from Pope on the break. However, Newcastle kept pushing, and their persistence paid off in stoppage time when Moussa Niakhate’s arm made contact with the ball in the penalty area, leading to a penalty.
Isak stepped up and picked out the top corner to secure Newcastle’s victory and send the traveling fans into ecstasy. Forest’s first home defeat since September leaves them looking over their shoulders at their Premier League relegation rivals.
Newcastle’s win moves them to within a point of Tottenham in the table, boosting their hopes of securing a European spot for next season.
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