That was a massive victory – Longstaff

SEAN Longstaff has reflected on a “massive moment” in Newcastle United’s season after the 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest.

The midfielder enjoyed a great night in midfield on Friday and almost scored when his shot cannoned off the bar at the City Ground.

Longstaff (right) felt the result showed United were up for the fight in the Premier League battle for European places.

Longstaff told The Journal: “It’s a massive result in our season. We’d been a bit up and down and I think the last two results have put us in a really good position, given us the chance to have a break and get some players back.

“It’s a massive result, not an easy place to come and we fought all night so not the prettiest of results and the performance but at least we won.”

Looking back on the moment he struck the woodwork, Longstaff, who also saw a shot fly over, said: “I thought it was in, I think when it takes a deflection it’s probably got more chance of going in than when it doesn’t take one. I thought the second one, I hit pretty well as well but I just leant back a bit.

“We created some good chances which on another day go in. It just took another handball, a penalty and Alex Isak was really, really good again so a massive three points.” Meanwhile, United boss Eddie Howe has spoken of the importance of back-to-back wins in the Premier League following the triumph at the City Ground.

The victory became even better when Tottenham Hotspur dropped two massive points away to Southampton with Antonio Conte’s subsequent meltdown suggesting all is not well with Newcastle’s Champions League rivals.

United are now two points behind Spurs with two games in hand on the London outfit.

Howe said: “Back-to-back wins are hugely important in this division. The quality of the teams, the strength of the opponents, make it so difficult to do.

“We came to a difficult away ground. I thought the Nottingham Forest supporters were really good in that first half and we lost control for ten or 15 minutes.

“They scored in that period, but it was a really good response in the second half from the team.”