Chris Wood puts former side Newcastle to the sword with hat-trick for ForestBy Damian Spellman, PAChris Wood retuned to haunt Newcastle with a stunning hat-trick as Nottingham Forest handed new boss Nuno Espirito Santo the first Premier League victory of his reign. A 3-1 victory was little more than the visitors deserved on a day when Eddie Howe’s men, who took the lead through a contentious Alexander Isak penalty, were ripped apart by Anthony Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White in front of a disbelieving crowd of 52,207. Almiron won possession on the edge of the visitors’ box, but failed to pick out a team-mate, allowing Gibbs-White to sprint upfield and find Elanga, who handed Wood the simplest of tasks to equalise. It might have been worse for the hosts within seconds of the restart when Gibbs-White glanced a header wide from Elanga’s dangerous cross with Newcastle looking increasingly vulnerable. Howe swiftly replaced Burn and Almiron with Tino Livramento and Callum Wilson, but his side were undone again on the hour when Murillo’s through-ball split a ragged defence and Wood deftly stepped around the painfully exposed Dubravka to complete his hat-trick.

Source: Irish Independent December 27, 2023 06:45 UTC