However, the goal came against the run of play and undeterred, the home side were back on terms within four minutes when, after Forest had smuggled away Bruno Guimaraes’ header, Lewis Hall fed the ball into Miley’s feet and he took a controlling touch before dispatching a left-footed shot across Matz Sels and inside the far post.
Fabian Schar was unfortunate not to extend Newcastle’s lead when his 49th-minute header from a Hall corner came back off a post, but he and his fellow defenders were relieved to see Anthony Elanga fail to convert Neco Williams header back across goal, as difficult a chance as it was, five minutes later.
With the hosts content to sit back behind the ball and strike on the break, former Magpie Elliot Anderson belatedly forced his way into the game, and it was from his 63rd-minute corner that the visitors reduced the deficit when Milenkovic turned Chris Wood’s cross past Pope.
Lewis Miley, Jacob Murphy and Isak twice scored inside 11 first-half minutes to turn the game on its head in front of a crowd of 52,223 – among them chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan – and send the Magpies into Wednesday night’s clash with leaders Liverpool on a high after last weekend’s drubbing at Manchester City.
It was 3-1 with 12 minutes of the first half remaining when, after a lengthy VAR review, referee Jarred Gillett awarded a penalty for handball against Ola Aina after he had blocked Hall’s cross with an outstretched arm and Isak converted straight down the middle despite Sels getting a hand to his attempt.
