Bruno Guimaraes' long-range stunner and Nick Woltemade's penalty were enough for Newcastle United to defeat out-of-form Nottingham Forest 2-0 at St James' Park on Sunday.
The Magpies came to life after a lacklustre first half with Guimaraes curling a lovely 58th-minute effort past former Newcastle goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Woltemade then kept his nerve from 12 yards (below) with six minutes remaining, after another ex-Magpies player - midfielder Elliot Anderson - clipped Guimaraes in the area.
Sandro Tonali was brilliantly denied by Sels and Woltemade crashed an effort against the crossbar from close range before going on to score the spot-kick, as Newcastle climbed to 11th in the Premier League standings.
Forest have now failed to win any of their opening seven matches under Ange Postecoglou in all competitions and head into the international break in 17th position.
How the match unfolded
Joelinton ought to have done better with an early shot straight at Sels when rushing to meet Kieran Trippier's cross, and the Brazilian was denied by a fine save by Forest's goalkeeper with a back-post header shortly after.
Forest did a good job of keeping Newcastle quiet in a low-key first half, with the offset of that being their only shot on target was a tame 20-yard free-kick from Morgan Gibbs-White.
Morato almost undid all that good work with an ugly touch in his own penalty area but recovered to make a fine block to prevent Woltemade's thumping volley.
Dan Burn had a couple of penalty shouts turned down before Guimaraes opened the scoring by bending a fine 25-yard effort past Sels.
Sels thwarted Tonali's exquisite dink and Woltemade rattled the woodwork but the German would not be denied, firing his penalty high into the top-left corner after Anderson's tired clip on Guimaraes.
Woltemade matches Shearer
Newcastle's season has yet to fully kick into gear but a 4-0 UEFA Champions League win over Union Saint-Gilloise was at least a good antidote following the last-gasp heartbreak suffered against Arsenal last time out.
Eddie Howe's men found themselves frustrated by a more compact Forest defence in a first period that never really sparked into life.
There was a little more verve to the way Newcastle hassled and harried in the second half, though, and Guimaraes stole the ball high from Gibbs-White before applying a sublime finish after a neat interchange with Burn to set them on their way.
Woltemade will wonder how he had not managed to score in open play, prior to Anderson's foul giving him a golden opportunity from the penalty spot, which he took with aplomb.
The former Stuttgart talisman has now scored in each of his first three home Premier League games, joining Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer as the only Newcastle players to do so.
Howe will hope for more of that form after the international break, as Newcastle look to build on their second Premier League win of the season when they visit Brighton & Hove Albion on 18 October.
Pressure grows on Postecoglou
Postecoglou was subjected to discontent from the stands as Forest were beaten at home by Midtjylland in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, with some reports suggesting his position was facing scrutiny even though that was only the sixth match of his tenure.
One issue in the matches preceding the Newcastle trip was Forest's defensive fragility.
They conceded 13 goals in six games, and a concerted effort to be more difficult to break down was evident here.
While it did have the desired effect of quelling Newcastle's usually lively home crowd, it meant that Forest were unable to produce a great deal in attack – with an Expected Goals (xG) of just 0.07 at half-time telling its own story.
A higher-octane Newcastle press in the second half then suffocated Forest, with Gibbs-White's insistence that he was felled by Guimaraes in the build-up to the opening goal only adding to the visitors' frustrations.
However, the truth is it required some fine work from Sels to make sure the scoreline was not larger, with Malick Thiaw and Harvey Barnes joining Tonali in being denied by the busy Forest goalkeeper, prior to Woltemade sealing the points.
Chants were aimed at Postecoglou – who is the first Forest manager since 1925 to fail to win any of his opening seven matches – from home and away fans alike, and the pressure is mounting ahead of their next home encounter with Chelsea on 18 October.
Club reports
Newcastle report | Nottingham Forest report
What the managers said
Eddie Howe: "That was a huge win for us. Huge. The players have done really well this week to recover from the Arsenal game in the way that they have, with speed to put that game to the back of our minds and refocus on two hugely important games - Champions League, to get our season going in that competition - and then of course the importance of the Premier League. It's such an important competition for us. At home, I thought it was vital we won today."
Ange Postecoglou: "There's nothing wrong with things being tough. I did have an option - I could have been sitting on the couch watching the game and not be in the middle of it. I'd much rather be here. I love a fight."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Woltemade became only the third player to score in each of his first three home Premier League appearances for Newcastle, after Les Ferdinand in 1995 and Alan Shearer in 1996.
Guimaraes has scored 23 Premier League goals for Newcastle – the only central midfielders with more for the club are Rob Lee (34) and Gary Speed (28).
Forest have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 15 Premier League matches, their joint-longest run since returning to the competition in 2022 (also 15 from Feb-May 2023).