Guimaraes scores twice as Newcastle fend off spirited Forest
The first chance of a lively first half fell to the hosts, after Nuno Tavares’ break down the left. The Arsenal loanee cut it back for Morgan Gibbs-White, but he could not steer his first-time effort on target.
And Forest were made to pay for that miss five minutes later, when Guimarães drifted to the back post and caressed a volley past former Newcastle keeper Matz Sels from a wonderful Kieran Trippier delivery.
Forest continued unperturbed, and after he had fired a warning shot that was saved by Martin Dubravka, Anthony Elanga outpaced Dan Burn to get on the end of a Gibbs-White ball and toe-poked it past the onrushing keeper to level.
The parity did not last though, and after getting his first two goals of the season at Villa Park a fortnight ago, Fabian Schär got another after Forest showed their defensive frailties.
A free-kick from the halfway line was allowed to bounce on the edge of the box, and Schär’s defensive partner Sven Botman nodded it into his path before the Swiss international buried it with a clinical finish.
Eddie Howe’s men thought they had the lead at the break, but a pulsating first half still had time to see-saw again. With just seconds remaining before HT, Callum Hudosn-Odoi’s shot from the edge of the box took a deflection off Lewis Miley and looped past Dubravka to send the teams in at 2-2 at the break.
And the entertainment only continued after it, as just five minutes into the second half, Taiwo Awoniyi thought he had the hosts in front for the first time, only for his clinical finish to be ruled out for offside. The Nigerian striker then had a shout for a penalty turned down by both referee Anthony Taylor and VAR after he collided with Dubravka.
Having scored just one league goal this season before today, Guimarães doubled his tally in this game as the Magpies took the lead for the third time on 67 minutes, he latched on to a loose Elanga pass on the edge of the Forest box and buried a strike hard and low past Sels.
Clearly in no mood to make the same mistake three times, Newcastle held on for a valuable three points in their race for Europe while Nottingham Forest missed the chance to open up a gap on the bottom three on a day when earlier results had gone their way.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle United)
