Alexander Isak brace pushed his goal haul to 50 Premier League goals as a rampant first-half performance from Newcastle United helped them beat Nottingham Forest at St. James’ Park.
Forest took an early lead through Callum Hudson-Odoi before Newcastle grabbed control of the game with four goals in 11 frantic first-half minutes to go in 4-1 up at half-time.
Lewis Miley and Jacob Murphy scored in quick succession to stun Forest, before Isak struck twice in the space of two minutes.
Isak’s second – his 19th goal of the season – saw him reach the 50-goal mark in just 76 Premier League appearances, quicker than all-but six players in the competition’s history.
Nikola Milenkovic took advantage of a defensive lapse to pull a goal back for Forest, before substitute Ryan Yates set up a nervy finish with a close-range goal following a corner in the 90th minute.
But Newcastle held on for a victory that moves them up to fifth in the table, which will likely be enough to qualify for the Champions League, and puts them within three points of Forest in third.
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Neither side had really settled when Hudson-Odoi stole the ball off Jacob Murphy following a throw-in, drove forward and caught Nick Pope off guard with a curling strike into the bottom corner.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side immediately looked to right that wrong, with Anthony Gordon unfortunate not to convert on the stretch as Tino Livramento’s teasing cross fizzed across the face of goal.
The 18-year-old Miley, making his first league start in 365 days, provided the equaliser a few minutes later when he rifled a low shot past Matz Sels after Forest failed to clear from a free-kick.
Murphy then atoned for his earlier error by bundling the ball across the goal-line after Lewis Hall’s attempted squared pass was deflected goalward by Murillo.
Forest’s situation worsened when Ola Aina handled Hall’s cross inside the penalty area, with referee Jarred Gillett pointing to the spot after consulting the pitch side monitor.
Isak just about beat Sels with his spot-kick down the middle, though the Belgian goalkeeper may feel disappointed not to have saves it having stood tall.
The Newcastle striker compounded a torrid 11 minute-spell for Forest as he ran through on goal and finished past Sels, albeit with a slight deflection off Murillo.
Forest struggled to deal with set-pieces all afternoon and came close to conceding a fifth early in the second half when Fabian Schar’s header from another wicked Hall delivery hit the top of the post.
However, the home side took their foot off the gas in the second-half and were left hanging on for a nervy victory.
Milenkovic flicked Chris Wood’s header past Pope following a corner, before Yates converted from another set-piece to leave the home crowd cursing their side’s loss of focus.
Newcastle really needed a win to boost their hopes of a top-five finish and arrest a slide that was threatening to derail their season.
Howe’s side came into the game with three league defeats in four, and risked losing three consecutive home games in the Premier League for the first time since 2021.
Instead of falling nine points behind Forest, they closed the gap to three.
While Isak stole the headlines, Newcastle’s youngsters Hall and Miley – who came in for Tonali – impressed.
