Newcastle go fifth after holding on to beat Nottingham Forest in thriller

Alexander Isak scored his 50th Premier League goal as a rampant first-half performance from Newcastle United helped them beat Nottingham Forest at St James’ Park.

Forest took an early lead through Callum Hudson-Odoi before Newcastle grabbed control of the game with four goals in 11 frantic first-half minutes to go in 4-1 up at half-time.

Lewis Miley and Jacob Murphy scored in quick succession to stun Forest, before Isak struck twice in the space of two minutes.

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Isak’s second – his 19th goal of the season – saw him reach the 50-goal mark in just 76 Premier League appearances, quicker than all but six players in the competition’s history.

Nikola Milenkovic took advantage of a defensive lapse to pull a goal back for Forest before substitute Ryan Yates set up a nervy finish with a close-range goal following a corner in the 90th minute.

But Newcastle held on for a victory that moves them up to fifth in the table, which will likely be enough to qualify for the Champions League, and puts them within three points of Forest in third.