Nottingham Forest were beaten on penalties last night as Newcastle knocked the Reds out of the Carabao Cup at the City Ground.
Forest produced a quality performance against their fellow Premier League outfit after going behind just 18 seconds into the contest.
Alexander Isak raced clear inside the opening minute and after his shot was saved by Carlos Miguel, Joe Willock was on hand to tap into an empty net.
Forest regrouped though and got their just rewards in the second half. Jota Silva lashed home a brilliant effort after Newcastle had failed to clear an Alex Moreno throw.
After the game, it was a look back at what might have been. However, Forest have bigger fish to fry this season and hopefully, this setback doesn’t knock the confidence too much.
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Jason Lee raves about one Nottingham Forest star after Forest defeat
Lee is a man who knows all about starring in front of a City Ground crowd. He spent a number of years at the club backing up the likes of Stan Collymore and Bryan Roy on Trentside.
These days he can often be found in the hospitality suites on a matchday in his role as an ambassador of the football club – and he was again at the match last night.
The man in his crosshairs for praise was goalscorer Silva. He smashed home a quality goal on his full debut and then collected the Player of the Match accolade afterwards.
Lee responded to a post on Instagram from the club’s official media team and simply said: “Very good performance.”
Silva was making his first start for the club last night against Newcastle. He had previously come off the bench during the 1-0 win over Southampton but barely touched the ball after being introduced in stoppage time.
Silva can shine under Nuno Espirito Santo at Forest
It’s fair to say that not too many Forest fans knew too much about Silva before he signed for the club in the summer.
The Vitoria player signed for just £11 million and had played in a number of positions during his time in Portugal.
There was even a notion that Forest might look to loan him out but after last night that looks like a non-starter.
Who Scored showcases just how good Silva was last night. He even won four headers, which for one of the smaller players on the pitch is quite something.
Espirito Santo has spoken previously about wanting more wide players for competition and Silva’s performance last night showcased that he’s certainly been granted his wish.
The Portugal international now has the chance to build on this performance and Espirito Santo has a headache over whether to start him on Saturday or not against Wolves.
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