Harvey Barnes concludes Newcastle's comeback at Nottingham Forest | first division

Nottingham Forest have been fishing in the waters Newcastle aspire to swim in. This season, Nuno Espírito Santo's side are the provincial team punching above their weight, but by defeating them at the City Ground, Newcastle, now just one point behind Forest, showed they also possess the ability to join the crowd .

A comeback in the second half, ^­Courtesy of three beautiful finishes, the first a piece of surprising opportunism from Alexander Isak, the second a long-range beauty from Joelinton, he showed a full stomach for the fight. The third, scored by late substitute Harvey Barnes, cutting inside after an assist from equally influential replacement Sandro Tonali, sent the Forest fans into overdrive.

As the Premier League's high rollers struggle to assert their usual dominance, there are stark similarities between these pretenders. Evangelos Marinakis, Forest's owner, is a nation-state unto himself, as ambitious (and ruthless) as any autocratic ruler. His manager, Nuno, calm and diplomatic, has an iron determination not far removed from that of Eddie Howe. Some of the staff know him too. Chris Wood was a Newcastle player appreciated for his efforts when relegation was feared. This season he has shown his former employers his usefulness in high places.

And in the way of winning, Forest had more than enough in Newcastle. “We have been punished in the same way that we have punished other teams,” said Nuno, of a decisive second-half counter-attacking masterclass. “They have quality and were lethal.”

For the first 45 minutes, Newcastle had struggled to take the measure of Forest, unable to land a blow when Howe's team did not exactly lack muscle or aggression.

On the sidelines, Jason Tindall, Howe's right-hand man and caretaker, was doing Jason Tindall things to add more fuel. Referee Anthony Taylor, decidedly unpopular in Nottingham, was punished from the start. It produced a heady drink in the first half and a crackling atmosphere.

Nuno's speedsters opted for the counterattack as their preferred weapon, as well as the set pieces that facilitated their goal. From an Anthony Elanga free kick, as Chris Wood made a fake run, Murillo stole and headed home for his first professional goal. The Brazilian, called up for his country for the first time last week, is one of several Forest players who point out that what seemed like a scattered recruitment was actually delivering quality personnel, even before. Edu arrives from Arsenal – as expected. Matz Sels, another former Newcastle player from the Championship era, then made an excellent save from Bruno Guimarães as Newcastle looked for a quick fix.

“They're a difficult team to play against because they don't concede many chances and you fear the worst when you're behind,” Howe said, but with Anthony Gordon switching to the left and Joelinton to the right, Newcastle started their second game. half with renewed fire. “The second half was up there with our best performances this season,” their coach added.

Defenders of Forest (and Sels) were forced to increasingly resort to last resort measures. Forest remained dangerous on the counterattack, but after Nicolás Domínguez was sent in on the halfway line, only for Nick Pope to save, they lost control of the game. Dominguez had dropped back to defend Newcastle's next attack, but after a corner was forced, Wood's lowered head provided an inadvertent assist for Isak to score the equaliser.

That brought Nuno's first changes, Elliot Anderson applauded by both sets of fans, with the dizzying energy of Jota Silva accompanying him. Anderson is the player Howe did not want to lose, but he became a scapegoat in the disputes over profits and sustainability that both clubs became involved in over the summer. The Whitley Bay lad had started his afternoon on the bench as Morgan Gibbs-White took over playmaker duties for Forest.

Like most of his colleagues, Gibbs-White's effectiveness waned as the Nottingham air began to fill with the invective of his fans. Taylor further reduced his popularity when he admonished Nuno's assistant Rui Barbosa for complaining that Dan Burn deserved a second yellow card for bringing down Jota.

That anxious atmosphere was soon asked to accept defeat. Isak, after Gordon had sent off Joe Willock, fired a volley wide, with Newcastle now the most dangerous on the counter-attack.

Their well-deserved lead came when Elanga lost the ball down the field. Tonali, in place of Willock, laid off Isak, whose pass gave Joelinton time to switch to his left foot for a shot that crashed into the net. “A beast, a machine,” Howe said of the goalscorer. “He's the player who does everything he's asked.”

It fell to Barnes – “trying to find a place for him in the team is something I'm aware of,” Howe said – to complete a rescue operation carried out with high precision, with Tonali again at the centre.

If Forest's ambitions seemed thwarted when Newcastle's were lifted, Nuno did everything he could to avoid a change of scenery. “All of us should be proud of the way we have been working together,” he said. “Let's go again…”