NOTTINGHAM, Britain: Alexander Isak said Newcastle believe they will seal a place in next season’s Champions League after the Swede scored twice, including a stoppage time penalty, to beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 on Friday.
Victory lifts the Magpies to within one point of fourth-placed Tottenham and with a game in hand to come on Spurs. “We believe and we know that we have it in our own hands and have a good chance,” said Isak after Newcastle signed off for the international break with back-to-back wins. “It is important we have gone into this break with a good feeling with two wins from two games.” Defeat was Forest’s first at home in the league since September and leaves Steve Cooper’s men still two points above the relegation zone. “It’s always the worst way to lose, in the last couple of minutes, having fought in the game,” said Cooper. “We made some poor football decisions around the build-up to the goals and that’s something we can only blame ourselves for.” Newcastle ended a near two-month wait for a Premier League win last weekend in beating Wolves and came flying out the blocks at the City Ground.
But the closest the visitors came to turning their early dominance into a lead was when Renan Lodi turned Isak’s cross onto his own crossbar.
Instead it was Forest who went in front completely against the run of play thanks to a howler from Sven Botman. The Dutch center-back has been a major factor in Newcastle’s success this season but his attempted pass back to goalkeeper Nick Pope was intercepted by Emmanuel Dennis, who produced a stunning chipped finish for just his second Forest goal.