Eddie Howe thinks Newcastle’s win at Forest is a ‘big moment’ for his or her season
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Newcastle boss Eddie Howe feels his side’s come-from-behind win at Nottingham Forest could be a “big moment” in their season.
Forest put themselves in position to continue their winning run when Murillo opened the scoring in the first half.
But second-half goals from Alexander Isak, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes turned the match around to make it three wins in a row in all competitions and move within a point of the Champions League places.
The only negative of the afternoon was the hip injury suffered by Anthony Gordon, who is now a doubt for England’s Nations League games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
Howe said: “We needed some momentum. We always say how quickly football can change and your fortunes can turn.
“So three wins and there is a totally different feel about the team. I’m really pleased today because an away game, going 1-0 down to come back and win in the way that we did, I think is a big moment for us.
“We probably don’t want an international break at this moment in time but it’s there and we have got an extended break as well because we play on the Monday, not the Saturday, when we come back.
“So players will go away, we go to Saudi Arabia, we come back but we try and keep the feeling that we have now.
“We know that we’re in a good position and we’re building our season but we have some key games to come.”
On Gordon’s injury, Howe added: “It looks like a similar problem to one he had a few weeks ago with his hip. We hope it’s not serious but I don’t know yet, I’ve not spoken to him.
“I’d say he’s a doubt because he’s come off.”
Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo was not critical of his team despite their second-half performance and is proud as they head into the November international break in the European places.
“I am very pleased even though we lost the game, I am very pleased and all of us at Forest should be proud of our players and how we were working together,” the Portuguese said.
“Let’s go again, just proud from day one as how we were working as a team.
“I would not say I’m frustrated, we lost the game, when you lose and win there is always a lesson to be learned, today we must learn some important lessons.
“It’s easy to see we have been punished by the way we have been punishing other teams. I cannot say it is a bad performance, we have to give credit to Newcastle, they are a good team who were able to control us and take advantage of some decisions we made.
“They have quality and were lethal in their chances.”
