Forest’s resistance frays after the hour as Postecoglou’s wait for a win stretches to seven

Nottingham Forest arrived at St James’ Park with a recalibrated plan and greater defensive resolve, but a Bruno Guimaraes curler and a late Nick Woltemade penalty consigned Ange Postecoglou to a seventh game without victory. A 2-0 defeat leaves Forest 17th and searching for answers through the international break.

Postecoglou abandoned Angeball for a back five and shuffled his personnel to stem the flow. For an hour, it worked: Forest were compact, disciplined and indebted to a superb Matz Sels. Yet once Guimaraes struck and a VAR check upheld the decision, the visitors rarely looked like finding a route back before Woltemade’s top-corner spot-kick settled it.

Ange’s reset brings resilience

Under scrutiny after recent defensive frailty and a Europa League defeat to Midtjylland, Postecoglou changed tack. Captain Ryan Yates, Nicolo Savona and Jair Cunha were handed their first Premier League starts of the season as Forest moved to a back five and prioritised concentration and compactness.

The first-half discipline was unmistakable. Nikola Milenkovic largely shut off service to Nick Woltemade, Savona asked questions of Dan Burn down Newcastle’s left and Morato’s brave block denied a near-certain goal at 0-0. Sels, returning to Tyneside as a former Newcastle keeper, thwarted Joelinton with a fine save, keeping the game level.

When the call goes against you

The turning point came just before the hour. Guimaraes challenged Morgan Gibbs-White in midfield, took a return from Burn at the edge and curled beyond Sels. Forest players immediately surrounded referee Peter Bankes, insisting a foul had preceded the shot.

VAR reviewed the incident and, determining Guimaraes had played enough of the ball, allowed the goal to stand. From there, Forest’s earlier cohesion frayed and Newcastle’s control grew, with Sandro Tonali increasingly dictating the midfield exchanges.

Sels shines, but breaks finally appear

Sels kept Forest alive as the pressure mounted, tipping over Tonali’s cushioned volley before watching Woltemade smash the underside of the bar from the resulting corner. He then produced an excellent double save to deny Malick Thiaw and Harvey Barnes as Newcastle pressed for daylight.

Forest’s attacking threat remained limited. Chris Wood had earlier squandered a golden back-post chance from a Gibbs-White delivery, and after falling behind, the visitors struggled to knit phases together. When Elliot Anderson – impressive this season and returning to his boyhood club – mistimed a challenge on Guimaraes in the area, Woltemade converted from the spot with unerring precision into the top left corner.

Pressure and perspective

The away dugout felt the heat. Home supporters aimed "you’re getting sacked in the morning" chants at Postecoglou, whose body language betrayed frustration even as his side showed greater defensive organisation than in recent weeks. Forest had made it difficult for long stretches but rarely looked capable of forcing parity once behind.

Postecoglou struck a defiant note: "It’s a struggle, it’s a fight… I prefer to be right in the middle of it, where I can have an effect. And I believe I will." The task now is to pair this more robust structure with sharper attacking play after the international break.

What next

Forest host Chelsea at the City Ground on Saturday, 18 October, a test of whether this compact shape can contain elite opponents while offering a platform for more purposeful transitions.

Three days later, Porto visit in the Europa League on Thursday, 23 October. If the defensive baseline established at Newcastle can be retained, the challenge will be to add clarity in the final third and end a winless run that now spans seven matches under Postecoglou.