And while the Magpies left it late, their second win in a row was the least they deserved - they hit the bar twice in the first half and had a goal chalked off by VAR in the second - and was only a fourth home defeat of the season for Forest, whose form by the Trent has been in stark contrast to their results on the road where they have won just once.

Eddie Howe named an unchanged starting XI to the team which had beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers at St. James' Park five days earlier, although Miguel Almirón, who had come from the bench to score the winner, was ruled out of the squad with a thigh injury.

Jacob Murphy would in all likelihood have kept his place anyway but looked determined to make the most of his second successive start and created the first opening of the game when he crossed from the right and Joe Willock blazed off target from eight yards out.

Then in the 12th minute, United came even closer when an inventive free kick, awarded after Jonjo Shelvey had brought down former team-mate Bruno Guimarães, saw Kieran Trippier slip in Isak. His goalbound shot took a deflection off Serge Aurier, then Renan Lodi before cannoning back off the crossbar.

Forest responded with a strike from Brennan Johnson which was well held by Nick Pope, but took the lead in the 26th minute when Sven Botman's backpass left the Newcastle netminder stranded and Emmanuel Dennis nipped in and lofted an inch-perfect finish into the net despite Trippier and Botman's best efforts to get back.

Newcastle hit the bar for the second time in the 35th minute when Murphy cut the ball back for Sean Longstaff, whose shot struck Felipe and then the woodwork before, three minutes later, Longstaff tried his luck again but this time his effort was over the top.

But the Magpies got the equaliser they deserved in first-half stoppage time. A good move on the right led to Willock digging out a cross and with the ball arriving at an awkward height, he improved to volley home, deliberately, with his shin for his second goal in successive matches.

Elliot Anderson was introduced in place of Allan Saint-Maximin at the break and the youngster almost made an instant impact as, within four minutes of his arrival, his volley was acrobatically pushed behind by goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Willock fired over before, in the 58th minute, Shelvey threatened not once but twice to score against his old club as one shot was blocked by Isak before his follow-up whistled just wide.

On the hour mark, Guimarães was denied by another eye-catching save from Navas then four minutes later, Anderson thought he had scored his first goal for his boyhood club.

He got up above Aurier to head home from Isak's cross after some sensational footwork from the Swede and an even better cross, but after scenes of wild celebration in front of the travelling Magpies fans, VAR intervened, with referee Paul Tierney going over the monitor before decreeing that Longstaff had been in an offside decision in the same phase of play.

If Anderson was deeply disappointed to have had his big moment taken away, though, he didn't show it and flashed an inviting ball across goal which just needed a touch from a visiting player to force it home.

Then as the match entered its final ten minutes, the Magpies fashioned three more big chances.

First, Longstaff headed Trippier's deep cross back across goal but Murphy shot wide when well placed, then Longstaff squirted the ball through to Isak but his low strike was blocked by Aurier.

And in the 87th minute, it was Felipe's turn to save his side with a huge block from Guimarães, before Forest broke and almost scored an unlikely winner, but Pope threw out a leg to keep out Johnson's drive.

But then in stoppage time, Isak went up for a header and Moussa Niakhaté needlessly handled, allowing the Newcastle forward an opportunity to win it from the spot.

Despite Forest's attempts to put him off, the Swede coolly slotted home his sixth goal in seven starts for the Magpies, who are now just a point behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.