Under-pressure Nottingham Forest boss Ange Postecoglou shakes head as VAR refuses to get involved in Newcastle United opener

Nottingham Forest boss Ange Postecoglou cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines as Bruno Guimaraes put Newcastle United into the lead at St James’ Park.

There was little in the way of goalmouth action in the first half at St James’ Park, but that created a tough, physical midfield battle, with tempers flaring from the start of the game.

It was shaping up to be a game that needed a moment of magic, and as he so often does, Guimaraes was on hand to provide it, blasting a long-distance strike beyond Sels between the Forest sticks.

Postecoglou cuts frustrated figure as Newcastle take the lead

It was not what Postecoglou would have wanted, as he entered this clash looking for his first win after six games in charge of his new club, with pressure already building for him to get results.

As Guimaraes’ strike nestled in the net, the Australian was downcast and shaking his head, as his charges on the pitch crowded the referee to protest what they perceived to be a foul in the build-up.

Moments before the strike, the goalscorer had clattered into Morgan Gibbs-White to dispossess his opponent, before Dan Burn retrieved the ball and provided it back to Guimaraes to score.

It looks a powerful challenge on first viewing, and as such the Forest players were up in arms, with their manager clearly less than impressed on the touchline.

However, replays showed Guimaraes took the ball first, before his momentum sent him barging into the England attacker, and so VAR did not get involved as those connected to the visitors may have expected.

Postecoglou clearly felt the added intensity of going a goal down, as he opted to make a triple change just over five minutes later, but moods did not improve among the away contingent when former Magpie Elliot Anderson gifted his hometown side a penalty in the closing moments, which Nick Woltemade gratefully tucked home.

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, it’s clear why Forest were aggrieved, as it looked like Guimaraes had just pushed Gibbs-White off the ball, but it was the correct decision.

Asked about the decision after the final whistle by Sky, Guimaraes shook his head and said: "First, I touched the ball. But no, never, never [a] foul."

More worrying for Forest fans, however, is Postecoglou looked immediately dejected, rather than passionate, or looking to rally his troops.

He is only a matter of weeks into his new posting, but there is a familiar look to the Aussie boss from the tough times he endured with Tottenham last season.