Newcastle v Nottingham Forest: Premier League – live | Premier League

GOAL! Newcastle 1-2 Nottm Forest (Wood 53)

52 min At the other end Burn has a shot blocked following a Nwwcastle corner,

50 min After yet another menacing Forest break, Elanga shoots tamely at Dubravka from the edge of the area. Forest have had some very presentable chances.

49 min Trippier’s deep free-kick is headed back across goal by Schar and claimed by Turner. Forest break again, this time through Gibbs-White. He finds Aina, who beats Gordon in the area and stabs the ball across the face of goal. Almiron almost scores an own goal when his mistimed attempt to concede a corner hits Elanga in front of goal, then another Forest player has a shot desperately blocked.

Then the referee blows to signal that the ball went out of play before Aina’s cross. I’m not sure it did, so it would have been a tricky job for VAR had Forest scored.

48 min Isak is limping slightly after being caught by Sangare. It looks like an impact injury rather than anything muscular so he should be okay.

46 min: Chance for Gibbs-White! Forest almost score within 15 seconds! Elanga roasts Burn yet again on the right and curls a fast cross towards Gibbs-White, 10 yards out. He flicks a header across goal and just past the far post. It was a pretty good chance, though maybe it caught him by surprise so soon after the kick-off.

46 min Peep peep! Forest begin the second half. It’s a big 50-odd minutes for both sides.

Half-time half-term reading

Half time: Newcastle 1-1 Nottm Forest

45+4 min: Good save from Turner! Isak’s header from Schar’s cross is clawed down by Turner, who dives to punch the loose ball away from the onrushing Almiron. Forest break again and Dubravka makes a comfortable save to his left from Hudson-Odoi.

Chris Wood has scored against his old club. It came on the break after Almiron, who had robbed Danilo on the edge of the Forest area, passed when he should have shot. The ball was cut out and Forest were away. Eventually Gibbs-White slid an angled pass to Elanga, whose low cross on the stretch gave Wood an open goal.

GOAL! Newcastle 1-1 Nottm Forest (Wood 45+1)

44 min Gordon and Almiron combine to find the overlapping Trippier, whose cutback is booted away at the near post.

43 min Almiron beats Sangare with a nice dummy on the edge of the D but then crashes his shot over the bar.

42 min Elanga’s cross towards Wood is too close to Dubravka.

41 min Gibbs-White shoots high and wide from 20 yards. He’s been kept very quiet by Guimaraes, although he did have a pretty decent early chance.

39 min Newcastle have been brilliant since that Elanga chance, inspired by the energy and swagger of Guimaraes. He shuffles away from Danilo on the edge of the area but then slips over/dives and the move peters out.

38 min Lewis Miley, who doesn’t turn 18 until May, plays with an eerie elegance and maturity. His movement off the ball is particularly eye-catching, except if you’re an opposing defender. Nice subtlety to his passing too.

35 min The resulting corner leads to a scramble in the six-yard box before Aina half clears. Miley has a shot blocked after a lovely flick from Guimaraes and then heads straight at Turner from 10 yards. It wasn’t much of a chance because there was no pace on the cross.

34 min Isak has looked sharp today. He beats Danilo thrillingly on the right, moves in the area and floats a dainty chip that is turned over the bar by Turner. I think it was an errant cross, though I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

33 min: Chance for Elanga! Forest should be level. Elanga ran onto a simple header infield, 40 yards out, and left Botman in his slipstream to move through on goal. He had Wood at the far post waiting for a tap-in but decide to go himself with a left-footed curler that was saved to his right by the diving Dubravka.

I’d like to see it again but I think he picked the wrong option. Either that or he tried to find Wood but messed up a fairly routine cross.

33 min Nothing much to report. Elanga has been a threat for Forest, the other players less so.

31 min “Hi Rob and Seasonal Greetings!” says Gary Naylor. “Isn’t the answer to the ‘How do you play Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson in the same team?’ question that they should learn how to do it? Plenty of centre-forwards grow into the No10 role (Harry Kane most obviously) and isn’t it part of a coach’s job to demand more of their players? I think part of Pep’s genius is his refusal to accept a player’s limits – and his willingness to ship out those whose imaginations confine them to the position they played in the under-11s.”

I know what you mean, but some players have a higher plasticine content than others. Even Pep, for example, rarely plays Phil Foden in the centre of midfield. You can get Isak and Wilson in a 4-3-3 at a push, with Isak on the left, but that means dropping Gordon so why would you.

30 min Niakhate’s long throw is headed on and hooked just wide on the volley by Elanga. Dubravka had it covered.

28 min Montiel was also booked for asking for a yellow card when Gordon committed that foul. Muscle memory has a lot to answer for.

27 min Miiley slaloms elegantly past three players just outside the Forest area and slides the ball across to Gordon. His stinging first-time shot is well blocked by the stretching Montiel. Forest break and Gordon hares back to foul Elangha (I think). He’s booked.

26 min Sangare is booked for a hack at Isak, who turned him classily 40 yards from goal. He’ll miss the next game.

25 min Niakhate plays a promising through pass towards Elanga on the right side of the area. Burn, who can’t match him for speed, has to make a desperate lunging tackle to knock the ball against Elanga and into the arms of Dubravka.

It was a very confident penalty, passed gently to his right. Although Turner went the right way in the end, his weight was on the other foot as Isak took the kick – which meant, even though the penalty was nowhere near the corner, he couldn’t get across and down in time. Isak scored an injury-time winner from the spot against Forest in March and now he has put Newcastle ahead.

GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Nottm Forest (Isak 23 pen)

Penalty given It took a while but the decision has been confirmed.

21 min: Penalty to Newcastle! Miley plays a cute through pass towards Isak, who pulls away from Aina and goes down. The referee thinks about it for a couple of seconds and then gives the penalty. It’s soft, and Isak made the most of it, but Aina kicked his boot so I doubt it will be overturned.

19 min An important interception at each end, first by Schar (I think) from Gibbs-White’s through ball and then by Murillo from Gordon’s cross.

17 min A Forest corner is headed away to Aina, who blasts over from 20 yards.

16 min Isak goes over in the area after a challenge from Danilo. There’s a brief shout for a penalty from the home crowd but that’s all.

14 min Despite the odd bit of self-harm like that Danilo pass, Forest have made a pretty comfortable start to the game. Newcastle are not at their ferocious best, yet.

12 min Danilo plays an absurd pass across his own area, straight to Almiron on the edge of the box. He finds Miley who plays in Trippier, but he floats a harmless chip over the bar.

11 min Forest almost get in trouble trying to play out from the back. With Newcastle waiting to pounce, the keeper Turner decides to aveit straight into the crowd. Merry Christmas.

9 min Miley, an elusive player whose ghostly movement resembles that of Kai Havertz, wanders into space on the right of the area and stands up a decent cross that is headed away at the far post.

7 min Nothing much to report at the moment. Forest certainly haven’t parked the bus, but both attacks are still rubbing the sleep out of their face.

5 min Elanga has started on the right for Forest, with Hudson-Odoi on the left.

4 min Now Forest win a corner. They also take it short and also make a mess of it.

3 min: Chance for Forest! Elanga’s shot is blocked and rebounds to Miley on the edge of the area. He runs into his own player, allowing Gibbs-White to seize possession and drag a shot just wide of the left-hand post. That was a pretty good chance.

1 min Trippier wins a corner for Newcastle inside 20 seconds. He takes it short to Almiron, who works it infield to Longstaff. His through pass back towards Trippier is cut out, the end.

1 min Peep peep! Newcastle kick off from left to right as we watch. It looks a nice day at St James’ Park, with sunshine and everything.

From the archive: Newcastle v Nottm Forest

Only a spark was needed to set alight combustible feelings, and a balding middle-aged looking pugilist provided it. His paunch exposed, his shirt flying, this heavyweight bare-knuckle fighter set his arms flailing like a windmill and at least five policemen were needed to cool his ardour and pin him to the muddy turf. But the damage had been done and the crowd went haring down the pitch to the Gallowgate end.

And here’s what Nuno had to say

Eddie Howe’s pre-match thoughts

Team news

Half-term reports

The set is staged

Preamble