Anthony Gordon showed his class immediately after Newcastle United devastated Nottingham Forest in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup second-round shootout at the City Ground.
The England winger, who buried his spot-kick after the game went to penalties, walked straight over to the crestfallen Forest players to offer words of encouragement before running off to celebrate with his team-mates.
A topsy-turvy game saw Newcastle hit the front inside 20 seconds when Joe Willock pounced on Alexander Isak’s rebound. Jota Silva then scored his first goal in English football to level for Forest shortly after the second-half restart.
With no extra-time, it became a battle of guts when players volunteered for the shootout. Newcastle were the first to blink as Joelinton saw his effort saved by countryman Carlos Miguel in the Forest goal.
The Tricky Trees took a 3-1 lead but it unravelled from there as Ibrahim Sangare and Taiwo Awoniyi both missed the target, with Gordon scoring for Newcastle and Sean Longstaff netting the decisive penalty.
As most of the Magpies’ players sprinted towards the away end to celebrate with the thousands of travelling supporters, Gordon selflessly put his euphoria on hold by heading across the halfway line to shake the hands of the defeated Forest stars.
“It’s a massive result for us and hopefully one that kick-starts our season,” penalty hero Sean Longstaff told Sky Sports. “I love working with the manager every day. We want to be tough to beat this year and we got a good result tonight, we want to kick on.
“There’s no European football this year so the cup competitions will play a massive part in our season. We want to go as far as we can.”
Wednesday’s trip to the City Ground saw the return of Sandro Tonali to Newcastle‘s midfield after he served a 10-month betting ban. The Italian put in a solid performance and physically embraced fans in the stands after the victory.
“It is massive (to have him back),” Longstaff continued. “He is a massive player for us, not just on the pitch but in the dressing room as well. You can see the quality he has.”
Newcastle will travel to AFC Wimbledon in the third round after the League Two side’s shock penalties win over Premier League Ipswich Town. Other notable ties include Liverpool hosting West Ham, Bolton travelling to Arsenal and Manchester United taking on Barnsley at Old Trafford.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk