Eddie Howe picks out big positives from Newcastle 2-0 Nottingham Forest

It was a solid performance in the North East sunshine for Eddie Howe and Newcastle as we beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at St James’ Park on Sunday.

Coming off the back of a big win in the Champions League against Union Saint-Gilloise, three points were needed in the Premier League if we wanted to break into the top half before the international break.

And a pair of goals in the second half from Bruno Guimaraes and Nick Woltemade saw us continue our exceptional top flight record against Forest, with Ange Postecoglou reportedly on the brink of dismissal even before the result.

Here’s what Eddie Howe had to say after the big win, discussing a vital three points, professional display

On a much-needed three points

With an opportunity to potentially be in the top half of the table heading into the international break on the line, and keep ourselves in the chasing pack for a European spot, three points felt mandatory.

“It was a massive game for us. We were sort of aware that you can’t go too long without winning in this league.

"And managing this club, playing for this club, we want the home environment and away environment to be as special as it has for players in the last few years, and you can only do that if you’re confident and feel like you can win every game.”

“So I think today was a big step forward again after the midweek win. The players performed really well today under that pressure, and on quite a slow pitch today did really well.”

And Howe knew not to take today’s opponents too lightly, and he felt his players remained focused throughout and produced a professional performance that he was very proud of.

“There’s a lot of big factors at play today, and that’s why coming through that I think we showed a lot of maturity and experience because there was the pressure of not starting the Premier League particularly well.”

“I thought the team grew as the game went on, a very good team at times today, some really good moves. We didn’t always finish them, but hopefully we can because I thought we created a lot of chances today.”

On professional display vs Forest's back five

Even on a poor run of form under Ange Postecoglou, today’s visitors were always going to be a tricky customer for us.

We endured a penalty shoot out win last season, as well as 3-2 and 4-3 wins in the league over Forest, but today’s game felt a lot more different with Postecoglou opting for a more reserved, defensive approach that made them very tricky to break down.

“It wasn’t easy. They put a lot of men behind the ball, played with a back five, no doubt their plan was to frustrate us and try and go in at 0-0 at halftime, and that worked.”

“But second half we played a lot better, quicker, and we asked a lot more questions, created more chances. We felt a goal was coming, but it took a moment of magic from a very special player to deliver that first goal and that was all important in the end.”

“I think the break comes at a bad time for us: back to back wins and you’re desperate for another game. But our players will go away, we hope they do well. And when we come back we’ve got a really intense period, big games, and that’s the beauty of this season, there’s not really any games that don’t stand out as a massive one for us.”

On Nick Woltemade’s prolific goalscoring run

There’s more than just headers in Nick Woltemade’s locker, as the big German converted a fantastic penalty into the top left corner to secure all three points on Sunday afternoon.

It’s his fourth goal in all competitions this season, and he’s joined Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer as the only strikers to score in their first three home league appearances for us.

“Really pleased, because it just allows him to focus on his game knowing that he’s started well.

"He’s made a very good impression on and off the pitch. We can grow his game at this point further, he’s very willing, wants to do well, and also wants to help the team: it’s not about him, so with all those qualities, I think he’ll do very well for us.”

“When you look at today’s game, we created a number of chances to make it 2-0, didn’t take them,  that’s a big moment for us: we needed that second goal to kill the game, I’m delighted with how he took it.”

On yet another clean sheet

Woltemade is indeed the man of the moment on Tyneside, but our defence deserves immense recognition for the excellent performances delivered so far this season, keeping five clean sheets in seven league games so far.

Sven Botman and Malick Thiaw have calmly established themselves as our go-to centre back partnership moving forward, and elder statesmen Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier were as solid as always.

“Very pleased with the whole team and how we’re defending at the moment, and have been for the majority of the season.”

“Nick (Pope) didn’t have a lot to do today, but what he did do, he did well. But the team in front of him I think were excellent in their mentality to make sure we kept a clean sheet.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3NQEZZC4zI