Nottingham Forest 1-1 Newcastle: Elliot Anderson haunts Toon with late leveller to secure Premier League safety

Elliot Anderson haunted his old club Newcastle with a late leveller to earn Nottingham Forest a 1-1 home draw, which secured their Premier League safety.

West Ham's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal later on Sunday ensured Forest will play top-flight football next season, with Vitor Pereira's side seven points ahead of the 18th-placed Hammers with two games left.

Forest's hero on Sunday, Anderson, had to leave his boyhood club Newcastle in the summer of 2024 due to PSR demands as he joined Forest in a £35m deal.

The midfielder has thrived at the City Ground, becoming an England regular with Manchester City in pole position to sign the 23-year-old this summer. And on Sunday, he showed Newcastle up close the talent they let go with a fine 88th-minute equaliser.

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At his post-match press conference, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe revealed Anderson's move was "the most reluctant transfer I'll ever do" and his equaliser "really hurt".

Meanwhile, Pereira says Anderson "deserves the top of the world" after the recent death of his mother Helen, whose funeral was on Friday.

Substitute Harvey Barnes' second-half opener had put Forest on course for back-to-back defeats after they were thrashed 4-0 at Aston Villa in their Europa League semi-final second leg on Thursday.

But the home side rallied well to score a late equaliser to extend their unbeaten Premier League run to eight games and end Newcastle's faint hopes of European qualification.

'He must be leaving' - Gordon left on Toon bench again

Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon was an unused substitute for the second consecutive game.

Sky Sports News revealed earlier this week that Bayern Munich had opened talks with Newcastle over a potential summer deal for the England international.

Asked why Gordon was left on the bench, Toon boss Howe said at his post-match press conference: "Obviously, he's returned from an injury.

"I'm looking at the team and I've been pleased with how the team's performed the last three games, so I haven't had to make changes."

But Ex-Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara believes Gordon's benching signal a St James' Park summer exit.

"It tells me he's leaving, if Howe isn't playing him," O'Hara told Sky Sports News.

"I like Gordon, he's a player they need, but for whatever reason, it hasn't gone to plan.

"If Howe isn't playing him at this stage of the season, it suggests he's going to get rid of him."

Newcastle sit 13th in the Premier League and are two points below rivals Sunderland.

O'Hara added: "They're not good enough. Eddie Howe needs to take a look at this squad - has it reached its ceiling?

"Are the players responding to him. They got in front, but then they were really poor.

"The players have not performed. Wissa was poor again, and Woltemade didn't really do anything."

Howe: We knew Anderson move would be 'very painful'

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe speaking at his post-match press conference on selling Elliot Anderson to Forest:

"It was something we regretted when we were doing it. We knew that would be a very, very painful transfer, one that we had to do.

"We had no choice, but it was probably the most reluctant transfer I'll ever do, because we knew the quality of the player.

"We'd seen him close up for a number of years training with us. He was beginning to break into the team and he was being for me, the back end of that season, really effective in a number of different positions.

"It really hurts to see him do that against us today, he's going to go and have a fantastic career, wherever he goes, wherever his career takes him.

"He's a great lad as well, so it's painful for us to take but he's an outstanding player."

Pereira 'can't say' whether Anderson will stay at Forest

Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira speaking at his post-match press conference on Elliot Anderson:

"It's difficult for me, and everybody, to understand what he is feeling inside of him.

"I believe that he is honouring his mother, going inside the pitch and running until the last metre, until the last breath.

"I cannot say (whether he will stay), I don't have the answer. I know he deserves the top of the world.

"I know that he's our player, and we need to enjoy him because I have worked with the top talent players, but to find a top player with this character is not easy.

"I'm not thinking about the next season. I'm thinking about finishing this season in the best position that we can.

"In the warm-up, my assistants, they said to me, 'Elliot is on fire today'. Every time that he shot on goal, he scored.

"He had the funeral of his mother two days ago, I didn't speak with him, but I believe that he wants to honour his mother with a goal.

"I believe that's why he tried until the last minute to score a goal, because this is the way that he found to go on the pitch and to give everything to play for."

Opta facts: Newcastle let lead slip once again

Newcastle have dropped more points from winning positions than any other side in the Premier League this season (27) - only in 2004/05 have the Magpies dropped more in the competition (31).

Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League games (W4 D4), with the Tricky Trees' last enjoying a longer run without defeat in the competition between February and November 1995 (25).

Newcastle have failed to win 14 Premier League away games this season (D5 L9), with the Magpies last failing to win more matches in the competition on the road in 2018/19 (15).

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