October 05, (THEWILL) — Nick Woltemade converted a late penalty to cap his remarkable start to life at St. James’ Park, becoming only the third Newcastle player, after Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer, to score in his first three top-flight home matches. The German forward fired into the top corner after Elliot Anderson fouled Bruno Guimarães inside the area, sealing a comfortable 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Guimarães had opened the scoring just before the hour mark when Dan Burn found him on the edge of the box, and the Brazilian curled a superb effort into the top corner. The goal came after Newcastle had dominated proceedings from the opening whistle, with Joelinton forcing two saves from Matz Sels in the first half and Woltemade hitting the underside of the crossbar from a corner shortly after the breakthrough.
Forest struggled to create meaningful chances at either end, with Morgan Gibbs-White’s easily-saved free-kick their only first-half attempt on goal. Morato gifted Woltemade a clear opportunity when his pass went straight to the forward near the goal, though the defender recovered to block the shot before Newcastle took the lead through Guimarães.
Sels produced excellent saves to deny Malick Thiaw and Harvey Barnes from close range, keeping the visitors within touching distance until Anderson’s foul handed Newcastle the chance to make the points safe. Woltemade had earlier struck the woodwork after another set-piece caused problems for the visiting defence, continuing Forest’s struggles from corners following their midweek issues against Midtjylland.
The result means Newcastle have now won seven of their last eight league meetings with Forest, extending their impressive home form with a fifth consecutive clean sheet in front of their own supporters. Manager Eddie Howe will take satisfaction from another solid defensive display, while Ange Postecoglou remains without a win after seven matches in charge of the East Midlands side.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
