Friday night’s clash at the City Ground was a rollercoaster ride, featuring some awful refereeing, an equally poor back pass from Botman, more Isak brilliance, a wrongly disallowed goal for Anderson and a dramatic winner to send the away end wild.
Back-to-back wins never felt so sweet, sending us into the break on a high ahead of our meeting with Man Utd in two weeks time.
Here’s six huge positives we’ve picked out from the match, starting with our impressive show of resilience in the face of adversity.
Passing mental test with flying colours and winning from a goal down
We could’ve risen to Forest’s dirty tactics, lost our rag with the referee, let our heads drop at their goal against the run of play or felt sorry for ourselves after Anderson’s goal was disallowed, but we did none of the above. Instead, we stuck to our game, didn’t lose belief and got our reward with a well deserved winner.
It was also the first time all season where we’ve won a game after going a goal down. That will only add to our belief moving forward, allowing us to stay calm and keep playing our football when we may have previously panicked or lost hope.
Alexander Isak
His opener showed real technical skill and his second demonstrated his ice-cool nature in front of goal, but there was so much more to like about Isak’s MOTM display. He was energetic, creative, a presence in both boxes and so elusive, seeming happy to come short, drift wide or dart in behind.
Not only does he look every bit a £60m and club-record signing, I’m starting to think that fee is a snip for a player of his pace, quality and endless potential. He’s got it all and will only get better. Remember, he’s not even fully fit yet and is a 23-year-old talent still adapting to Premier League football! With six goals in 10 appearances, he’s now averaging a goal every 105 minutes – a tally only Erling Haaland can better this season.
Elliot Anderson’s cameo
It remains a disgrace that VAR wrongly chalked off his towering header and first goal for the club, but his moment will arrive sooner rather than later if his impressive cameo was anything to go by.
On at the break for Allan Saint-Maximin, Anderson immediately added urgency and spark to our attack. He made a great early run behind Felipe that almost won us a penalty, had a superb volley well saved by Navas, powered in a header that should’ve stood, showed strength to hold off his man and quick feet and creativity when bursting into the box.
Two Mags deliver in Almiron’s absence
It’s a real shame to see Miggy ruled out for six weeks, but we may cope well in his absence if Jacob Murphy and Joe Willock can replicate the sort of performance they put in on Friday.
Murphy snatched at the odd shot, firing one big chance wide, yet his pace and positivity in possession gave us a real outlet down that right. He set up Willock’s early opening with a great ball across the box, creating five chances on the night – more than double any other player on the pitch.
As for Willock, it felt like another influential display from the former Arsenal man. He won the ball back for our equaliser, delivered good balls into the box for both goals and never hid. His non-stop running, improved creativity and ability to carry the ball at speed could be key in Almiron’s absence.
Heading into break on a high
Last but not least, it feels like a defining moment in our season to come through a game we dominated at the death. A draw would’ve felt so deflating, so to go into the international break with back-to-back wins and renewed belief we can secure a top four finish is huge. Positivity is well and truly back, but imagine how frustrated and bitter we could’ve felt had that VAR blunder robbed us of all three points?
The victory could also make for an even more productive trip to Dubai, where we’ll be training in the warmth while certain Mags represent their country.
We’ve moved five clear of Liverpool and Brighton – neither of whom play this weekend – are just one behind Spurs and will now move above Man Utd if we beat Ten Hag’s side in two weeks time. If anyone doubted our top four credentials, they’ll be believing again now!
Newcastle are the new favourites to finish fourth with betting sites like https://www.slotozilla.com/uk/real-money and it’s easy to see why if you watched us on Friday.
