Newcastle hang on for dramatic win over Forest

Newcastle scored four goals in 11 first-half minutes as they edged a seven-goal thriller against Nottingham Forest to boost their Champions League qualification hopes with a 4-3 home win.

Forest took a sixth-minute lead through Callum Hudson-Odoi but Lewis Miley’s 23rd-minute equaliser sparked a Newcastle flurry as Jacob Murphy completed the comeback two minutes later followed by Alexander Isak’s double, which saw him reach 50 Premier League goals.

But Forest threatened a stunning second-half comeback as Nikola Milenkovic pulled one back in the 63rd minute before Ryan Yates hit a 90th-minute goal as Newcastle survived a nervy ending to move up to fifth in the Premier League and level on points with fourth-placed Manchester City.

Forest, who remain third but are now only three points ahead of Newcastle, made a fast start at St James’ Park as Hudson-Odoi capitalised on Murphy’s error to fire in from outside the box.

But on his first Premier League start of the season, Miley struck a low leveller before Murphy atoned for his error by bundling home Newcastle’s second two and a half minutes later.

The Magpies were then awarded a penalty after VAR sent referee Jarred Gillett to the pitchside monitor following an Ola Aina handball, and Isak converted the 33rd-minute spot-kick.

The Sweden international scored his second 111 seconds later with a cool one-on-one finish seeing him reach 50 Premier League goals in just 76 appearances – only six players in the competition’s history have hit that tally faster – while it was his 19th Premier League goal of the season, with only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (24) netting more.

Newcastle, however, took their foot off the gas in the second half as they failed to have a shot on target, allowing Forest to get themselves back into it as Milenkovic hooked home before Yates’ low finish set up a tense finish.

But Forest could not find a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser as they lost three straight away league games for the first time since December 2023.

Opta stats: Seven-goal thriller delivers stunning stats

Nottingham Forest were only the sixth side ever to go 1-0 up in a Premier League game but then trail by 3+ goals at half-time, after Wimbledon v Aston Villa in February 1995, Newcastle v Man Utd in April 2003, Norwich v Aston Villa in March 2014, Arsenal v Liverpool in December 2018, and Man Utd v Tottenham in October 2020.
Newcastle have won 13 of their last 16 games in all competitions (L3); since the first match in this period on December 14th, this is the most wins by any Premier League side.
Lewis Miley’s goal (aged 18) assisted by Lewis Hall (aged 20) was the first time Newcastle had a Premier League goal both scored and assisted by players aged 20 or younger since January 2007 against Manchester United, when David Edgar (19) was assisted by James Milner (20).
Newcastle’s Alexander Isak scored his 49th and 50th Premier League goals, making him the highest-scoring Swedish player in the competition’s history, overtaking Freddie Ljungberg (48).
Since the start of last season, no player has scored more Premier League goals from outside the box than Nottingham Forest’s Callum Hudson-Odoi (7), who has scored all four of his league goals this season from beyond the 18-yard area.