Newcastle United got their Premier League campaign off to a flying start with a 2-0 win over Premier League newbies, Nottingham Forest.
Sven Botman was made to wait for his debut as Schar and Burn were tasked with protecting debutant Nick Pope‘s goal. Kieran Trippier took the captain’s armband with Jonjo Shelvey injured and Jamaal Lascelles originally on the bench, but had to drop out of the squad last minute after picking up an injury in the warm-up.
Wor Flags didn’t let us down with a fantastic flag in the Gallowgate End emblazoned with the words “It’s A New Dawn, It’s A New Day, It’s A New Life For NUFC … And We’re Feeling Good”, and the club got in on the act by blasting the Nina Simone song around the stadium. And the occasion lived up to the banner.
Right from the kick-off Newcastle absolutely dominated, looking dangerous every time they went forward and not giving Forest a moment to settle on the ball. Unfortunately, for all of their possession and pressure the half ended 0-0 and it looked like it was going to be one of those days. Chances from Almiron and Joelinton went begging as the Magpies just couldn’t find that killer blow. Meanwhile, Forest had to wait 39 minutes to give Newcastle anything to worry about with a Lingard effort that was superbly blocked by Fabian Schar, with a follow-up shot blazed wide.
Who Was Your Man Of The Match v Forest?
Bruno Guimaraes
Kieran Trippier
Allan Saint-Maximin
Fabian Schar
Joelinton
Other
IT ONLY TAKES ONE!
The second half continued very much in the same vein with Eddie Howe‘s men controlling the game but just failing to land that killer blow. Miguel Almiron looked bright all game but his decision-making in the final third was once again his undoing, always seemingly choosing the wrong option, passing when he should shoot and vice versa.
With the attackers failing to do their job, Fabian Schar took matters into his own hands and blasted home a trademark finish from the edge of the area right into the top corner on 58 minutes. Already a goal of the month contender and it’s only game one.
Twenty minutes later the lead was doubled as Callum Wilson, who had barely had a sniff all game, got on the end of a Joelinton cross and dinked the ball with the outside of his right boot over the head of a stranded Dean Henderson, proving that top strikers only need one half chance to score.
Sven Botman eventually made his debut coming on in second half stoppage time to replace Bruno Guimaraes who showed his class yet again with another mesmerising display. Every touch Botman had was greeted with rapturous cheers by the Toon Army.
The game finished 2-0, a stark contrast to the start of last season. The majority of the 52,245 crowd heading home happy. Credit must go to the Forest fans, who definitely made their voices heard on their Premier League return.
THINK YOU KNOW NEWCASTLE? WHO IS THIS FORMER MAGPIE?