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Forest's manager headed for the exit deep in thought, his eyes downcast. After seven games in charge with zero wins, his immediate future seemed as unclear as a fog on the Tyne.

While the home side were far from their dominant form, late goals from Bruno Guimarães and the German striker—Woltemade's from the penalty spot—eventually earned them a much-needed another top-flight win this campaign.

From the start, the manager's padded anorak wrapped him like a blanket, but his agitated gestures indicated it offered no solace.

No jacket could shield him from the anxiety that his winless beginning at Forest—taking over as the first manager in 100 years to go winless in his first half-dozen games—would extend ahead of a possible sacking over the upcoming pause.

And yet, his side did not do too badly during a defensively stingy first half.

Although Elliot Anderson at times upstaged even Sandro Tonali in midfield, reminding everyone why the Newcastle boss was so reluctant to let go of the academy product, Nikola Milenkovic contained Woltemade effectively, and the winger caused Dan Burn difficulties on the flank.

In fairness to Woltemade, who received little supply in the air or on the ground, his team's attacking play was not quite clicking.

Admittedly, it took a fine fingertip save from the Forest goalkeeper—ex- Magpies shot-stopper—to deny the Brazilian's header, and the midfielder missed a few opportunities, but overall, the visitors' defense was significantly better.

Given it is barely a few weeks since the Australian succeeded his predecessor and games have come thick and fast, leaving precious little time to put into practice his theories on the practice field, all the talk of an looming dismissal seemed somewhat ridiculous.

Or at least it did until Guimarães lifted a right-foot shot over Sels and into the upper net from the edge of the box.

That saw Postecoglou looking dismayed in apparent frustration, with the anguished look of a man who had misplaced his keys.

The Forest squad complained about a possible foul on Morgan Gibbs-White by Guimarães in the buildup, but their protests were ignored by the officials.

With the Italian now dominant in the middle, the youngster was not the only visiting player struggling to make an impact.

At this point, Postecoglou had removed his anorak and pushed up the sleeves of his sweater. As Forest rarely looking capable of scoring and Newcastle threatening to shred their previously improved backline, he was clearly feeling the heat.

It took another excellent save from the goalkeeper to deny the midfielder's driven cross-shot, before the resultant corner led to the striker's shot hitting the bottom of the crossbar.

The keeper then made an excellent double save from Malick Thiaw and the winger before finally being beaten from the penalty spot by Woltemade.

The penalty was given when Anderson's poorly timed challenge sent Guimarães crashing down.

Up stepped, the Germany striker to confound the goalie by lifting a quite audacious spot-kick into the top left corner.

That marked his fourth strike for Newcastle since his £70m move from the German side in August, making a mockery of claims from senior figures at the German giants that Newcastle were “idiots” to spend so much for the striker.

This may not have been his finest performance in black and white, but his ability to hold the ball up and use his adhesive touch to link play is already making him a fan favorite on Tyneside.