Nuno Espírito Santo admitted Newcastle United controlled his Nottingham Forest side in Sunday’s 3-1 win at the City Ground.
Newcastle came from behind with Alexander Isak, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes securing a third straight win in all competitions. The Magpies enjoyed 57% possession and registered 17 shots to Forest’s nine to end the home side’s three-game winning streak.
Despite the result, Forest still sit in the top five in the Premier League table with Newcastle a point behind them in eighth. And after his side’s defeat, Espírito Santo admitted the better side won on the day.
“I cannot say that was a bad performance, that is totally out of the question,” the Forest boss admitted. “We played against a very good team that was able to control us and then hurt us in the way we’ve been doing [on the counter-attack]. It is a lesson for us to learn.
“I just have to recognise that today we played a good team, who were better than us in many, many moments. There’s nothing to say about the players, the character and belief was there.”
Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo. Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo.
Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo. | Getty Images
And Howe was pleased with how his side turned things around in the second half after trailing to Murillo’s header at the break.
“Very pleased because we needed some momentum,” Howe said. “We always say how quickly football can change and your fortunes can turn so after three wins there is a totally different feel about the team.
“Really pleased today. An away game going 1-0 down to come back and win in the way we did is a big moment for us.
“You’re always going to have spells in the game where you don’t have the ball but can you be really effective when you don’t have it in any way whether that’s protecting your goal or counter-attacking, I thought you could see the third goal in particular sticks in my mind as a great example of the team that we can be on transitions and the team we were the majority of last season.
“We knew the importance of today, especially after those two wins and we don’t want it to be a false dawn. The challenge for the players was to come here against a very good team in good form and produce again and thanks to the second half we’re now talking about three games.”
