Nottingham Forest get ahead of themselves in hubristic defeat to Newcastle United
That’s the problem with a feeling of invincibility; it can turn much too quickly into sheer hubris.
Nottingham Forest had good reason to be full of confidence coming into this game. They were – and remain – third in the Premier League table. Third! Forest! We know!
This 3-1 reality check is only a second defeat of the season; for anybody to seriously complain they they have failed to move within a point of Manchester City would be silly first-world problems in the extreme. Still…this was a reminder to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side on the importance of staying true to themselves and not letting their position trick them into thinking they are something they are not.
A game that started with a distinct ‘we’re both happy with a draw, actually’ energy built and built into something much more compelling. Forest’s opener, provided by Murillo’s first goal for the club off a crossed Anthony Elanga set piece, left Newcastle United needing to up their game to find an equaliser.
And they did need to do that. Breaking down stubborn sides is not Newcastle’s forte, and there haven’t been many more stubborn than Forest this season. Throughout the first half, Eddie Howe’s side once again gave the distinct impression of trying to fell a giant redwood with a bread knife.
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Murillo, in particular, was fantastic, as he has been virtually since joining the club. The centre-back has been a phenomenal acquisition for a club previously ill-reputed for an imprecise scattergun approach to their recruitment, with summer signing Nikola Milenkovic proving a perfect accompaniment. At the back of Forest fans’ minds must be that nagging fear that the pair might just be too eye-catchingly good at their jobs.
But even the sturdiest tree is never infallible. Newcastle started the second half with a renewed vigour , and once they restored parity shortly after the break through Alexander Isak – poked home off the post from a corner, the first time Newcastle have scored from a corner this season – neither side were really content with a point.
The visitors wanted to maintain their momentum and find a winner; Forest, having squandered the lead, were meanwhile determined to get it back. Out went the ‘keep solid and play on the counter’ mentality; in came slightly more adventurous spirit that urged them to get more men forward.
That was their undoing. For all Newcastle’s faults in games they have dominated, they have shown themselves to be an excellent counter-attacking side against even some of the sternest defences in the Premier League this season.
Forest’s failure to keep their composure after conceding that scrappy set piece equaliser and just stick to their original gameplan was sheer hubris on their part. Their collective decision to try and become something they simply are not instead played perfectly into the visitors’ hands.
Isak spurned an opening on 67 minutes by volleying a Joe Willock cross wide when he really should have scored, but that was as much warning as Newcastle were willing to let Forest off with.
A similar move from the edge of the Newcastle box to the right wing five minutes later ended up with Joelinton, who did his best Mo Salah impression by cutting inside the desperate and over-committed Elanga before swinging a hopeful left foot through the ball and finding the net at the far post.
That put Forest in an unfamiliar situation. Only twice before this season had they trailed at any point in a Premier League game: away to Brighton in a 2-2 draw, and in their one-goal defeat to Fulham.
In their desperation to rescue another point, Forest grew wild and lost the run of themselves, ever more prone to doing things outside their comfort zone: pressing even higher, getting even more men forward, trying to play through an opponent. The result, inevitably, was substitute Harvey Barnes adding another counter-attacking goal for Newcastle, applying the finishing touch to a move he helped get started in his own half.
Another excellent day’s work for Newcastle in the end, then – and a chastening warning to Forest not to get too carried away again in future. Their start has been phenomenal, and they are capable of keeping that going a way further – but only if they remember how they got there in the first place.
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