Chris Wood scores a hat-trick as Nottingham Forest stun Newcastle United 3-1
Chris Wood bagged a hat-trick against his former club Newcastle United to give Nottingham Forest a big win at St James’ Park on Tuesday.
The Magpies took the lead in the 23rd minute through Alexander Isak’s penalty after Forest full-back Ola Aina brought the Swedish striker down in the box.
Wood, who played for Newcastle United was loaned out to Nottingham Forest in January and was signed permanently by Forest in summer.
The striker scored the equaliser just before half-time with a close-range tap-in from Anthony Elanga’s centre.
Elanga should have put the visitors ahead six minutes after the break, but his weak effort on goal was dealt by Martin Dubravka.
Chris Wood haunts his former team with a hat-trick
However, Newcastle’s defence was unable to stop these chances. In the 53rd minute Wood scored again to take the lead over them after a brilliant solo effort from another counter-attack.
The Magpies controlled the game after conceding another goal, but the attacking output was not up to mark to get them back into the game.
The visitors were always looking to counter-attack after winning the ball back. On the hour mark, Wood completed his hat-trick, rounding Dubravka and coolly slotting home to secure a well-deserved win.
“It is nice coming back to Newcastle, I really enjoyed my time here, it is a great bunch of lads and staff,” said Wood.
“We needed three points and it was fantastic for the side to get it. This is a tough place to come, the boys did extremely well.”
Nuno Espirito Santo earns first win as Forest boss
After some poor results, Forest decided to sack Steve Cooper and appointed former Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
Furthermore, this was his first win for Nottingham Forest, away from home against Newcastle. They are now 16th in the table with 17 points, five above the relegation zone.
As for Newcastle United, they are seventh in the table with 29 points. Moreover, this was their fourth defeat in the last five games.
