Shocker! Nottingham Forest pound Newcastle at home as Chris Wood nets hat-trick  

Nottingham Forest overcame a seven-game winless streak with a remarkable Premier League victory at Newcastle thanks to Chris Wood’s hat-trick on his return to St James’ Park.

The win at Newcastle pushed Forest up to 16th in the table, five points clear of the bottom three.

Alexander Isak appeared to have given Eddie Howe’s side the lead when he hammered home a penalty midway through the first half after collapsing under a challenge from Ola Aina.

Newcastle only threatened sporadically in attack and appeared vulnerable to a rejigged Forest side set up to counter-attack quickly.

Nottingham Forest recently fired Steve Cooper as manager after overseeing a run of just one win in 13 Premier League games.

His replacement Nuno Espirito Santo looks to have already started implementing his ideas to bring some Christmas happiness to the City Ground.

Speaking after the win, Forest Manager Nuno praised his side in a “huge” 3-1 win at Newcastle to end a seven-game winless Premier League run.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, speaking to Amazon Prime, said: “It was a difficult afternoon. We didn’t deal with the transitions very well. In that first half we could have made it 2-0 but we were made to pay for it.”

On drop off: “I don’t think there’s one reason. I think it’s a whole combination of things as to why we’ve not been at our best.”

On performance: “I don’t think we were far away today. We need to train properly for perhaps the first time in months.”

On added pressure: “A team not playing at their best, you have to self-reflect. We don’t have more pressure than usual.”