Eddie Howe’s side certainly keep watching fans entertained as Bruno Guimaraes double proves decisive
Newcastle United are the Premier League’s golden ticket this season with goals, at one end or the other, guaranteed. Five more at the City Ground makes it 90 and counting.
If another thrill-a-minute game could not quite match last week’s 4-4 draw with Luton for scoreboard burnout then it still represented an early evening well spent with a classy double from Bruno Guimaraes proving decisive.
How much three points at Forest will be worth to Newcastle in their pursuit of some sort of European football will only be revealed at the end of the season, but it felt important.
If this has at times felt like a cursed campaign for Newcastle, what with the betting ban for Sandro Tonali and the avalanche of injuries which have beset them, then they could yet salvage something from it.
“To get the three points today was massive for us,” said Guimaraes. “It is clear for me we have to get Europe again – try for the Champions League, I know it’s difficult, but at least the Europa League.”
Guimaraes won it with a 66th-minute cracker from 25 yards after setting Newcastle on their way with a smart 10th-minute volley from a short-corner routine executed with minimalist precision.
“They were two incredible finishes. When we can get him the ball in those areas of the pitch he has undoubted quality,” said Newcastle manager Eddie Howe.
Guimaraes, playing in a more advanced midfield role, was an elegant presence throughout and a worthy man of the match.
The debate over Dan Burn’s worth to Newcastle – Geordie totem or giant tortoise – rumbles on though. It reignited in the 26th minute when Anthony Elanga embarrassed him – and Sven Botman – for pace to equalise for Forest.
Nine minutes earlier Burn had again been flambeed by Elanga, but on that occasion goalkeeper Martin Dubravka was smartly off his line to ride to the rescue.
A season is a long ride and the Dan The Man who scored against PSG on a heady Champions League night in October had more of a look of Desperate Dan at times when he was exposed.
Forest were incisive on the break but their defence shut down in a costly fashion in the 43rd minute.
A long, looping free-kick from Kieran Trippier caused inexplicable confusion and Fabian Schar buried the chance to restore Newcastle’s lead.
It was 2-2 before the half was out as Callum Hudson-Odoi cut in off his wing and unleashed a shot from the edge of the area which took a cruel deflection off Newcastle teenager Lewis Miley.
But when Elanga coughed up possession on the edge of his own area in the second half, Guimaraes was quickly onto the loose ball and produced a terrific finish past Matz Sels from 25 yards to win the game.
For Forest, without a Premier League win in 2024 and with the flames of the relegation zone licking at their studs, these are anxious times.
Manager Nuno Espirito Santo – a man of few words as his 69-word-long programme notes indicated – has much to ponder.
He felt his side should have been awarded a second-half penalty by referee Anthony Taylor with the game in the balance when Taiwo Awoniyi fell under challenge from Dubravka.
“For me it was a clear penalty,” said Nuno. “Maybe the referee didn’t have a clear view of the incident but when you have a VAR it is so obvious. That’s why I don’t understand.”
“That was the decisive moment for sure.”
Howe, his view obscured, trusted that VAR had got the call right.
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