Alexander Isak believes Newcastle United have ‘a lot of things to work on’ after they edged a seven-goal thriller against European rivals Nottingham Forest.
The Magpies produced a stunning reaction to falling behind to an early Callum Hudson-Odoi strike as two goals in three minutes from Lewis Miley and Jacob Murphy turned the game on its head. A remarkable period of the game continued after the half-hour mark as Isak got in on the act with a penalty before doubling his tally for the day with a deflected effort just minutes later.
Despite holding a three-goal lead as the second-half got underway, Eddie Howe’s side never looked truly comfortable as Forest threatened to pull off the most unlikely of comebacks. Playing on the Magpies nerves, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men got back into the game when Nikola Milenkovic reduced the arrears just after the hour-mark. Those nerves became even more prominent when Ryan Yates grabbed Forest’s third goal of the day in the first minute of injury-time. However, United saw out the final two minutes of injury-time to boost their hopes of claiming a return to European competition with a win that left top goalscorer Isak with mixed emotions.
He told Sky Sports: “It was a brilliant first-half. I felt like we started the game good – but we conceded. The reaction was really good after that and we managed to score four. We dropped a bit second-half and conceded sloppy goals, which we have to work on – but we are happy to win the game. The most important thing was to get back to winning ways and we have a lot of things we can work on. We want to win more comfortably but it’s a big win.”
Isak brought up a half-century of Premier League goals for Newcastle and joined former Magpies strikers Andy Cole and Alan Shearer on a list of players to have reached that tally in the lowest number of appearances. There was a somewhat unique style to the penalty that brought up the Sweden international’s 50th league goal for United as his dinked effort down the middle of the goal somehow found its way beyond former Magpies goalkeeper Matz Sels. However, the manner of the goal mattered little to Isak, who will now set his focus on a midweek visit to Premier League title favourites and United’s Carabao Cup Final opponents Liverpool.
He said: “I already made my mind up to go down the middle. I felt like the goalie waited pretty long and I’m not sure if he came off his line or not but every goal counts so it doesn’t matter.
‘We want’ – Newcastle United star Alexander Isak makes ‘sloppy’ admission after Nottingham Forest win
