Nottingham Forest produced what has been described as the worst corner routine ever seen against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
Steve Cooper’s side travelled up to St James’ Park for their first Premier League game in 23 years and while it wasn’t a winning return, they did produce one of the biggest talking points.
Forest had a corner at 1-0 down and decided to leave every single player outside the box as it was taken. It’s just better if you watch it to fully understand just what went on…
Second-half goals from Fabian Schar and Callum Wilson saw Newcastle comfortably beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 in their Premier League opener.
It really should have been a bigger win with the Magpies registering 14 shots – six on target – and had seven corners, however they were wasteful in front of goal.
Joelinton should have buried at least two of his first-half chances, dragging one wide and seeing another well saved by Nottingham Forest loanee Dean Henderson. Along with fellow debutant Moussa Niakhate, the pair were key in keeping Forest from an opening weekend mauling at St James’ Park.
Breaking the Nottingham Forest defence, Scott McKenna’s clearance fell to Schar, who ran into the space ahead of him with no pressure from the opposing defence, before blasting a shot past Henderson.
Soon after, Wilson’s smart finish made it 2-0 with Joelinton picking out the striker inside the area, as he neatly lifted the ball over the goalkeeper’s head at the near post, continuing a trend of scoring early on in the season.
It was a great three points to start the season with for Newcastle, who will have ambitions of a European push this season. Nottingham Forest failed to register a shot on target in their first Premier League match since 1999 with a tough start to life back in England’s top flight, and will have a lot to work on back at the training ground, but please, if anything, get rid of that corner routine.
After the game, Newcastle’s Callum Wilson told Sky Sports: “It was a cheeky finish. There were so many times the ball came across at the near post and I was either too far away or too far in front. That time, I managed to get a connection. You stab at it as a striker at the near post and thankfully, it looped over the goalie.
“I back myself, there’s no doubt about that. For me, it’s about hitting the ground running and it was a good opportunity to score a goal. Disappointed I didn’t score more and it’s getting that consistency now and hopefully climb up the league.”
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe: “I’m feeling very positive after watching that. The players were excellent, we delivered what we wanted to. Full credit to them physically for the effort it took to win that match. It was a huge shift from the player. It was a performance of real promise from us today.
“I know we need to be better. I’m always going to push the players for more and I said that at half-time. We delivered a very good display up until the last action. The good thing was we had created chances, some great moves and great moments. There were really positive signs for what can be this season.
“But we need to be more ruthless because we know how difficult this league is and how a game can swing in a moment. We got there in the end today and the scoreline is great for us today, but it was quite tight.
“The performance was missing the icing on the cake and Fabian bought that with the strike. When he was lining up to hit it, I was questioning his decision and then I saw it hit the net and I was delighted he made that call. He’s capable of the unexpected, he’s an unconventional centre-half, he’s technically so good. It was a great strike.
“What a finish from Callum. I’ve only seen it once live, I don’t know how he managed to get the spin on the ball and the angle to take it in. but that’s what he’s capable of. He lives for scoring goals, he was very good during pre-season and he’s taken that form into this game today.”
🗣 “An excellent performance from start to finish.”
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) August 6, 2022
Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper: “We were second best, there’s no doubt about that. Newcastle looked like a good team today. At times, we coped with it OK in terms of the possession they had and the territory, but we didn’t play well enough with the ball. You could see that with the two goals.
“In the end, we turned the ball over a little cheaply, not completely believing in how we want to play. That’s given them even more momentum than they already had.
“There were some good bits of our defensive play, certainly in and around the box. They had loads of the ball and got into some really good areas, but we stayed compact, progressive in our defending, going up to the ball and showing them into areas.
“But what wasn’t at the level today was when we won the ball, there were too many turnovers and we didn’t play quick enough and didn’t give ourselves a chance to get any momentum in the game.
“That was the striking thing today. Many will ask what was the difference with playing our first Premier League game and for me, it was the intensity of the press from Newcastle and how we need to move the ball quicker. They’re the things we have to learn from today.
“We haven’t played great today with the ball, but I believe in these players and the way we play. We’ve won a lot of games, admittedly in a different league last year, but we need to believe in it and take it into these games. Nothing has been decided today.
“Of course, we need to make more additions and keep growing the team and believing in what we do. But we’re not looking too far ahead. we’ve felt our first game in the Premier League, we need to reflect and learn from it quickly, but we stick to the plan. We’ll get back to the training ground and look forward to the next game.”
🗣 “We were second best.”
Steve Cooper accepts that Nottingham Forest weren’t up to the level of Newcastle United today pic.twitter.com/yJMyxsUHVs
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 6, 2022
Fans reacted as Nottingham Forest produced the worst corner routine ever seen against Newcastle…
@RoyLUTD: Lmao what is this?
@coymir: Wtf
@PilotKid1: When you chose ‘sprinting towards 16 meter box’ with PES or FIFA 😅
@danielk_loyalty: Typical championship team
@DillonGroves: When u don’t have jimmy garner taking corners
@lfcarey: Ted lasso ahh routine
@enzprv: relegate them already
@UTD_Darri: Tbf if he acc hit that corner it would be a good corner bc its so hard to mark
@mcfcayo: if it goes in we’re calling them a genius
@hasoon69_: “If”
@Willscowing11: I actually think it’s not bad cause defenders don’t know where to mark apart from zonal marking which isn’t ideal
@Rainbowfables: Helps if you can deliver it to an area that isn’t the opposition goalkeepers hands
@Phil10439615: Tiring their defenders out by making them continuously come forward for corners. Steve Cooper tactical genius #nffc
@lilycharlotte__: What on earth was that corner about? #NFFC
@JonSumjons: That corner routine 😂 #nffc
@Gl3nnC77: That corner was Fcuking embarrassing #nffc
@NFFC_02: What was that corner routine ffs #nffc
@RhysWilliams79: Our corner routine 😂😂😂😂 #nffc
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