Nottingham Forest 1 Newcastle 1 - Anderson punishes former club, a missed opportunity for Newcastle?

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Dan Mullan/Getty Images Share article2A brilliant Elliot Anderson strike against his former club took Nottingham Forest a step closer to Premier League survival as the midfielder’s late goal earned his team a draw against Newcastle Untied.It was perhaps fitting that it was Anderson, a player who has become so integral to Forest after being sold by Newcastle, that earned a crucial point for his team while putting a major dent in Newcastle’s hopes of qualifying for Europe.Substitutes Harvey Barnes and Jacob Ramsey had turned around Newcastle’s fortunes by combining after the break to give the visitors the lead. Had they managed to hold on to the lead, Newcastle would have moved to within three points of Brentford in eighth. As it is, Eddie Howe’s men are five points adrift of the Londoners with two games remaining. Forest, meanwhile, will be keeping a close eye on West Ham United’s game against Arsenal.After a forgettable first half, the match burst into life around the hour mark with Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels twice denying Bruno Guimaraes and minutes later Will Osula hit the crossbar with a free-kick.Newcastle, largely thanks to a double substitution after the break with Barnes and Ramsey introduced, gained control of the game and the two combined with a sublime Ramsey pass setting up Barnes for his seventh Premier League goal of the season.George Caulkin, Chris Waugh and Paul Taylor analyse the key talking points. It is fair to say that Newcastle have not been full of firepower away from home this season. As an attacking force, they remain patchwork and unconvincing. Their performance at Forest was a slow-burn. Their first shot on target did not come until the 43rd minute, when Nick Woltemade brought the ball forward and released the ball neatly to the right where Osula took a touch onto his right foot and was then denied by Sels, the former Newcastle goalkeeper. That first touch from Osula was critical, allowing Morato, the Forest defender, to dive in and narrowing the angle for Sels. At the time, with neither side imposing themselves, it felt like a critical miss. Newcastle became far more dynamic after Woltemade went off in the 61st minute, with Bruno Guimarães twice being denied by Sels and Osula striking the crossbar with a well-taken, deflected free-kick. They deserved their goal, which came courtesy of two substitutes. Ramsey’s through-ball was inch-perfect, allowing Barnes to run onto it and lift his shot above Sels. It was his seventh league goal of the season. Only Fulham, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sunderland have scored fewer than Newcastle’s 17 away goals in the Premier League, but by other metrics — possession, big chances, touches in the opposition box — this felt like an improvement. Yet it also represented a missed opportunity. Anderson — and Newcastle failing to convert their chances — made sure of it. Towards the end, they faded. They have to be more clinical and more ruthless. For a Newcastle side who kept five clean sheets in their opening seven Premier League games, shutouts have proven painfully hard to come by throughout 2026. Until Anderson popped up with his 88th-minute equaliser, Newcastle were on course for just their third clean sheet in their last 17 top-flight games. But the concession of sloppy (and often damaging) goals has become an alarming forte and, although this one was hardly calamitous, Anderson was still able to skip through challenges in the box before finishing left-footed across goal. For Newcastle fans, seeing Anderson score and then celebrate after scoring (albeit without massive enthusiasm, given his respect for his former club) will be particularly painful. The 23-year-old is a boyhood fan and came up through their youth system, before Newcastle felt they had no option but to sell Anderson to Forest for £35million in June 2024 to ensure they complied with financial regulations. Anderson has blossomed into an England international, is likely to start at this summer’s World Cup and has been linked with a £100m transfer this summer. Newcastle desperately need a midfielder with Anderson’s attributes, especially if Sandro Tonali does depart, but he is almost certainly unattainable. Newcastle also dropped more points from winning positions, extending their Premier League-worst tally to a staggering 27. In the process, they prevented themselves from recording back-to-back victories in the league for only the fourth time this season. Inconsistency remains their identity. Forest had scored 12 goals in their previous three Premier League games. For much of the game, it was a bad time for them to lose that firepower. For 88 minutes, Forest looked as though they would draw another blank, following their 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the Europa League semi-final on Thursday. Central to both games, perhaps, was the absence of Forest’s talisman, Morgan Gibbs-White. The regular captain of the team has been a leader on that front, contributing nine goal involvements in his previous eight Premier League appearances, including seven goals. He recently became the first Forest player to contribute both 30 goals and 30 assists in the Premier Division for the club. But in the 88th minute another Forest talisman stood tall, against his former club. Anderson has had an outstanding season for Forest, but goal scoring had not been at the top of his list of qualities. But he chose the perfect moment to conjure up his fourth Premier League goal of the campaign, forcing home the ball from an angle to secure a precious point for the Reds. It felt like a vital goal for Forest, putting a bit of pressure on West Ham to get a result against title chasing Arsenal in the later kick-off. We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference. Sunday, May 17: West Ham (Home), Premier League, 5.30pm UK, 12.30pm ET Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms