Elliot Anderson scored a brilliant late equaliser against his former club to deny Newcastle and put Nottingham Forest on the brink of Premier League survival.
Forest had offered little throughout a largely turgid encounter until the England midfielder played a one-two with James McAtee inside the area before rifling a shot past Nick Pope with two minutes to go.
It means Forest are now seven points clear of the bottom three and with a vastly superior goal difference to West Ham, who have three games to play, starting this afternoon against Arsenal.
Defeat was a touch harsh on Newcastle, who thought they had claimed the points when substitute Harvey Barnes scored a neatly worked opener with 16 minutes remaining.
The draw was a good result for a Forest side that looked drained following the 4-0 Europa League thrashing at Aston Villa on Thursday night.
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Lacklustre first-half ends in stalemate
The first half had an end-of-season feel to it with neither side able to muster much in the way of attacking threat.
Newcastle had more possession in the early stages but were restricted to half chances – William Osula firing wide when well placed and Sandro Tonali shooting over the bar.
Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels went to ground midway through the half, enabling both managers to get some instructions to their players in a bid to liven them up. Forest switched to a back three to even up the numbers in midfield and it gave the hosts more control.
They had the best chance of the game after 37 minutes when Taiwo Awoniyi failed to connect with Dilane Bakwa’s cross but the delivery also caught out Pope, who just managed to prevent the ball going in by sticking out an arm. The rebound fell to Jair Cunha but Pope responded well to make the block.
At the other end, Sels got down smartly to keep out a low drive from Osula.
Barnes provides quality to put Newcastle in front
Pope saved from Igor Jesus at the start of the second period after the Brazil international conjured a yard of space inside the area.
After 60 minutes of his side producing very little, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe brought on Harvey Barnes and Jacob Ramsey for Jacob Murphy and the ineffective Nick Woltemade.
And it had the desired effect with Newcastle finally offering something going forward. Bruno Guimaraes had two openings but could not capitalise on either – the first seeing his mis-hit shot go straight to Sels and the second forcing the Forest goalkeeper into a smart stop.
It was also Guimaraes who was fouled for a free-kick that Osula curled onto the bar with Sels beaten after 69 minutes.
Newcastle’s pressure finally told with a lovely move out of keeping with the rest of the game. And it was the two substitutes that combined, Ramsey feeding a superb ball through for Barnes to run on to and slot past the advancing Sels.
It looked like it was going to be enough until Forest rallied in the closing stages. They didn’t really test Pope until Anderson picked up the ball on the edge of the area, traded passes with McAtee before shooting high into the net.
Forest probed for an even later winner but Newcastle held on.
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