NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United scored four goals in 11 first-half minutes to keep alive their Champions League qualification hopes with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Nottingham Forest at St James Park on Sunday but had to hold on under heavy pressure in the second period.

Newcastle move into fifth place with 44 points from 26 games, outside the top four on goal difference only. High-flying Forest lost for the second week in a row but remain in third with 47 points from the same number of matches.

Forest led early through Callum Hudson-Odoi’s long-range strike but Newcastle roared into life with four quick goals from 18-year-old Lewis Miley, Jacob Murphy and a brace from Alexander Isak, the first a penalty, which gave them a 4-1 halftime lead.

Forest were the better side in the second period and created numerous chances against a nervous home team, as Nikola Milenkovic netted and a late goal by Ryan Yates almost earned the visitors what would have been a deserved point.

“It was a brilliant first half, the reaction after conceding was really good,” Isak told SkySports. “We dropped a bit second half and conceded sloppy goals. I’m obviously happy to win the game.

“The most important thing was to win. We want to win more comfortably but it was a big win.”

The home side had five shots on target in the first half and none in the second in a performance that will give manager Eddie Howe much food for thought despite the three points.Forest led inside six minutes when Hudson-Odoi drilled a low shot from 30 metres into the bottom left corner, before Newcastle seized control.

Miley was picked out in acres of space in the penalty box and fired low into the net, before the home side went ahead when Murphy bundled in the ball at the back post off his thigh.

Newcastle received a penalty when Lewis Halls cross from the left struck the arm of jumping Forest defender Ola Aina, which was deemed to be in an unnatural position.

Isak went down the middle with his spot kick and while Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels got a strong hand to it, he could not keep out the ball.

The home side added a fourth with Isak scoring his 50th Premier League goal in his 76th appearance as his shot deflected into the net.

Newcastle almost scored a fifth early in the second half when Fabian Schaers header from a corner came back off the post.

But the hosts inexplicably fell off the pace after that and Forest created chance after chance until Milenkovic flicked the ball into the net from close range.

Yates fired in a third for the visitors as the clock struck 90 minutes but they could not force an equaliser in injury time.

In Saturday’s late match, Marco Asensio’s first goals for Aston Villa clinched a dramatic 2-1 win against spluttering Chelsea after a costly blunder from Blues goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen.

Enzo Fernandez’s quick-fire opener put Chelsea ahead at Villa Park in a battle between top four hopefuls chasing qualification for next season’s Champions League.

But Asensio, who signed on loan from Paris St-Germain, netted after the interval when his goal was initially disallowed for offside before being given by VAR. Asensio followed his equaliser with Villa’s last-gasp winner as his shot squirmed past Jorgensen’s woeful attempted save.

Chelsea have been beaten four times in their last five games in all co­m­petitions, leaving them one point adrift of the top four in sixth place.

Bemoaning Jorgensen’s error, coach Enzo Maresca said: “The keeper position is very difficult. When you make a mistake is clear for everyone.

“Today Filip did a mistake but in this moment he is our keeper and we need to stick together.

“It was a tough one because we did not deserve to lose. Even after the 1-1 we had chances to score.

“We had some great chances and in this league you have to be clinical otherwise until the end anything can happen.”

Seventh-placed Villa are one point behind Chelsea thanks to a result that rekindled their own top four ambitions.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2025