Nottingham Forest extended their unbeaten Premier League run to eight games (W4, D4), claiming another vital point in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United that could secure safety before their next fixture.
On the receiving end of a 4-0 UEFA Europa League thumping that saw them eliminated by Aston Villa in midweek, Forest’s attention returned to Premier League survival here. In their way stood a Newcastle side who had recently ended a four-game losing streak but were starting the day 18 points worse off than they were at this stage last season.
Nonetheless, the Magpies made a bright start to proceedings, pinning Forest back and regularly threatening down the right flank, albeit without carving out a clear-cut chance.
Unimpressed with what he had seen in the opening quarter of the match, Vitor Pereira opted for a change of system, reverting to the 4-4-2 formation that had brought recent success.
That adjustment shifted the momentum in the hosts’ favour, with Dilane Bakwa causing panic in the Magpies’ backline on a couple of occasions, most notably when his cross forced Nick Pope into a mistake that almost saw Jair Cunha turn in a loose ball.
However, the best opportunity of the first half came at the other end, as Nick Woltemade teed up William Osula, whose low driven effort was swiftly closed down by Matz Sels before the break.
After the interval, a speculative Bruno Guimaraes free-kick attempt drifted marginally wide as Newcastle looked to add to a league-low tally of just four second-half away goals this campaign.
Making just his third league start of the season, Taiwo Awoniyi showed his strength to muscle past Sven Botman and force a stop from Pope, shortly before his opposite number had to produce two saves in quick succession to deny Guimaraes.
With Newcastle once again in the ascendancy, Osula struck the crossbar from a free-kick, shortly before substitute Harvey Barnes latched onto a delicate Jacob Ramsey through ball and dispatched clinically beyond Sels’ reach.
Forest pressed for a response, and with 88 minutes on the clock, a quick exchange between James McAtee and Elliot Anderson saw the latter fire home from a tight angle against his boyhood club to level the scores.
That proved to be the last meaningful action, leaving Forest with just one win in 16 PL meetings (D4, L11), but that will be of little concern to the home support, who will be satisfied with a point here, knowing they could be safe before the weekend is out if West Ham United lose to league leaders Arsenal.
As for Eddie Howe’s side, a top-half finish looks to be the best they can realistically hope for, having now mathematically put any risk of an improbable relegation to bed with this result.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest)
