Newcastle United stunned in-form Nottingham Forest in their home stadium after trailing by a goal at halftime in a game of two halves. Despite having a 13-game winning streak in games where they scored the first goal, the Premier League’s surprise package of the season was outplayed by a Magpies team that has begun to find some form of their own.

On Sunday, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team tried to strike Newcastle on the break throughout, showcasing Forest’s vertical counterattack, which has been lethal at times this season with players like Callum Hudson-Odoi, Morgan Gibbs-White, and Elliot Anderson leading the charge. Dan Burn received a yellow card for that specific tactic in

On the other hand, Newcastle’s counterattack proved to be the most effective, as they scored their second and third goals of the afternoon with fluid plays from one end of the pitch to the other. This comes after Alexander Isak’s goal off a corner kick by Anthony Gordon ended a fruitless run of set piece troubles.

Newcastle kept applying pressure and throwing men forward, keeping the score at a perfect 1-1. After a long run by Gordon that began on the outskirts of his own area, Isak nearly had a second before he missed Matz Sels’ far post by an inch.

But the following time, Sels picked the ball out of his net after the visitors made a similarly sweeping move from back to front. Isak was able to spread the ball to Joelinton after Sandro Tonali, who was brought on in the second half to alter the course of the match, saw him laying deep. Cutting inside and making a dig with his feeble foot, the Brazilian curled a beauty into the far corner, undisturbed.

The afternoon’s last goal was the ideal example of Newcastle’s clinical style. Harvey Barnes, another replacement, scored past Sels at the near post and was celebrating with the away supporters 12 seconds after he flicked the ball around the corner within his team’s own final third.

A team that is now beginning to not only find its scoring boots again, but also keep their opponents largely quiet at the other end, put on a sharp second-half performance.

“We had work to do at half-time but credit to the players because the second half was up there with our best performances this season,” Howe stated during the break. “We did everything we hadn’t done in the first half in the beginning of the second half.

“We attacked with ferocity and clarity. We had the opportunity to score and asked further questions. The second half has truly impressed me.

Opposition manager Nuno Espirito Santo was equally as complimentary about Newcastle’s ‘lethal’ attacking exploits, praising Howe’s men for their City Ground performance. “It is easy to see we have been punished by the way that we have been punishing other teams. That is a reflection to be made on the game,” Nuno said. “I cannot say it is a bad performance, honestly. “We have to give credit to Newcastle because they are a good team and they were able to control us. They were able to take advantage of some decisions we made when we were rushing our decisions and they punished us on the counter-attack.