Nottingham Forest anger Joelinton as Newcastle find 'gold dust' to save even more millions

There is a sign deep in the inner sanctum of Newcastle United's training ground that lists four different personality types and asks a pertinent question: Which one are you?

A survivor who does just enough to get by. A contender who is driven by external factors like playing time, money and fame. A competitor who is internally motivated to be his best regardless of the situation. Or a commander who has all the traits of a competitor with one exception - he brings people with him.

There can be no doubt which category Joelinton falls into. The Brazilian certainly brought his team-mates with him as Newcastle came from behind to defeat Nottingham Forest 3-1 at the City Ground on Sunday.

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It was the aggressive Joelinton who squared up to Morgan Gibbs-White after the Nottingham Forest number 10 took exception to a challenge from Bruno Guimaraes when the hosts were in front and popping the ball around to a chorus of olés just before half-time. It was Joelinton who slotted in on the right-hand side without so much as a second thought during the game. It was Joelinton who lashed the ball in off the post to put Newcastle in front against a Nottingham Forest side who had only previously lost one league game all season.

It was rather fitting that Joelinton's staggering touch map went viral in a week Eddie Howe marked three years in charge. After all, this is a utility man who has embodied the transformation and team-first mentality of this side since Howe was appointed. This is a player who has saved millions with his ability to seamlessly cover several positions.

"He's like gold dust because you know wherever you put him, he will do a good job," the Newcastle boss said. "His attitude never changes. He's playing in different positions because we utilise him there in games and he has to do the training, and he never flickers. He will do whatever the team needs him to do."

No wonder Bruno Guimaraes was singing 'He's Brazilian, he only cost £40 million' as the Newcastle captain bounced to the away dressing room after the game. This felt a significant win even at this relatively early stage of the campaign.

Newcastle also came from 1-0 down to record a huge victory here on the way to qualifying for the Champions League in 2023 and the Magpies have now picked up the same number of points (18) after 11 games that they did on the way to finishing in the top four that season. Time will tell if history is about to repeat itself - this is a wide-open race - but Howe's team are at least in the mix after crucially finding a way to claw out more points away from home.

No other side had a bigger points differential between their results home and away last season after Newcastle lost a whopping 11 league games on the road. However, in the current campaign, so far, Newcastle have only claimed two more points at St James' than they have on their travels.

This was by far Newcastle's most impressive showing away from home after the visitors flicked the switch after going into the break 1-0 down. Aggressive Newcastle moved the ball quicker and were ruthless in the final third after scoring three goals from just four shots on target in the second half. Nottingham Forest are one of the best counter-attacking sides in the league, but Reds boss Nuno was the first to admit that Newcastle were 'able to control us and hurt us in the way that we have been doing'.

Yet it was high-flying Nottingham Forest who struck first midway through the first half. Newcastle had half a dozen players standing along the six-yard line as Anthony Elanga stepped up to take a wide free-kick, but Alexander Isak took a couple of steps back, which inadvertently created space for Murillo to sprint into and head home.

However, there is a reason why Newcastle have claimed eight points from losing positions this season. The Magpies were far from beaten. Bruno Guimaraes saw a fizzing effort parried by Matz Sels while the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper also had to be alert to keep out a shot from Dan Burn from inside the box before half-time.

Newcastle upped the intensity after the break. Bruno sent an early warning when the Brazil international played a clever one-two with Joelinton on the edge of the area before unleashing an effort with the outside of his boot that went just over. Bruno, smelling blood, raised his arms up and down to whip up the away end behind the goal and they were soon celebrating.

Newcastle had failed to score a single goal from a corner kick this season, but the black-and-whites finally ended that run in the 54th minute. Chris Wood attempted to head Anthony Gordon's delivery away, but Sean Longstaff smartly got in the way of his former team-mate and the ball fell to Alexander Isak inside the six-yard box. The Swede was not about to miss and coolly swept the ball in off the post.

Isak quickly had the chance to grab another. Gordon raced clear on the break from a Nottingham Forest corner and threaded the ball through to Willock. The midfielder took a touch inside the box and clipped the ball to the unmarked Isak at the back post, but the goal scorer could only volley wide.

It was a huge chance, but Newcastle eventually took the lead in the 72nd minute. Isak played the ball out to Joelinton and Nottingham Forest's defenders - wary of Tino Livramento's decoy run on the overlap - backed off and invited the Brazilian to shoot. Joelinton was happy to oblige and chopped inside Anthony Elanga on to his left foot before lashing the ball in off the post.

It is rare Nottingham Forest are repeatedly taken apart on the break like this and it was about to get even worse for the hosts late on as Newcastle launched another clinical breakaway. Harvey Barnes' clever touch knocked the ball to Bruno who, in turn, found Sandro Tonali galloping forward. Tonali slipped Barnes in down the left flank and the substitute cut inside before firing the ball through Nikola Milenkovic's legs and past Sels.

That was the cue for another rendition of 'E-I-E-I-E-I-O - Up the Premier League we go!' from the rocking away end. Newcastle are now just a point off third.