It was, perhaps, a reality check. A Nottingham Forest side which won at Anfield and took points away from the Amex Stadium and Stamford Bridge was beaten, comfortably, at home by a Newcastle United side who finally seem to be hitting their stride. The Premier League’s surprise package was outclassed, and their unexpected European ambitions looked a little less realistic by the time that the final whistle blew, at least on paper.
After scoring the opener from a well-worked set piece play, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side struggled to threaten Newcastle’s goal despite having a respectably high percentage of possession and territory. They looked limited and sometimes a little ponderous in attack whereas Newcastle, a team who many would have expected to be challenging for continental qualification, looked fluid, fast and dangerous. It could be taken as the difference between a team with pretensions on a European place and a team who actually have the quality to get there.
That wouldn’t be the whole truth, however, in part because Forest’s attacking play wasn’t much better or worse than it has been all season. For all their impressive results, a lack of creativity in central midfield has meant that possession and territory haven’t really been their friends all season. Around half of their 15 goals have come from either set pieces or counter-attacks – the moments in which the speed of their attacking midfielders and physicality of Chris Wood and their defenders can be brought to bear.
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