Nuno Espirito Santo says Nottingham Forest were unrecognisable in a woeful first-half performance that left them with too difficult of a comeback against Newcastle United.
Callum Hudson-Odoi fired Forest into a sixth-minute lead with a lovely opener from range, but Nuno’s side were soon undone by four Newcastle goals in the space of 11 first-half minutes.
Alexander Isak scored twice, with one from the penalty spot, along with the leveller from Lewis Miley and a close-range finish from Jacob Murphy during a chaotic turnaround.
Nikola Milenkovic pulled one back shortly after the hour before Ryan Yates’ 90th-minute goal set up a grandstand finish, but Forest were unable to find an unlikely equaliser as they suffered a 4-3 reverse on Sunday.
“First half, clearly Newcastle better. The second half was better, but unfortunately not enough. Too bad, too soon,” Nuno told Sky Sports.
“It’s about trying to settle down, calm down and try to be ourselves. In the first half, I didn’t recognise our team. In the second half, we were much better.
“I don’t know, this is what I’m going to work on now. This is a game which is good to reflect on.”
Forest became only the sixth side ever to go 1-0 up in a Premier League game but then trail by three or more goals at half-time.
Though it was a much-improved performance in the second half, Nuno’s men have now lost their last three league away games, the first time they have endured such a run since December 2023.
“We made mistakes. Newcastle made mistakes also. But it was two totally different halves. We started well, we scored, and they just rolled over us,” the Portuguese boss added.
“There was nothing else in the first half about us. Every time Newcastle had the ball, they scored.”
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