Newcastle United rivals in meltdown as owner confronts manager on pitch at full-time

Newcastle United held up their end of the bargain by beating Chelsea 2-0 at St James' Park on Sunday before watching a Champions League-chasing rival in Nottingham Forest fail to beat already relegated Leicester City at home.

In barely believable scenes after the City Ground clash, Forest co-owner Evangelos Marinakis made his way onto the pitch following the 2-2 draw. The Greek chief appeared to become embroiled in an angry conversation with manager Nuno Espirito Santo before heading back down the tunnel.

Marinakis initially went to walk past the Forest boss before circling back to seemingly have a pop before the pair separated. Nuno was left with a perplexed look on his face while keeping his cool, while many have taken to social media to express their confusion at the incident.

"Scandalous from that Forest owner. Nuno should go and negotiate his exit tonight with him!" Gary Neville posted on X after the incident. "The Forest fans, players and manager do not deserve that."

The draw sees Forest remain in seventh-place, behind both Aston Villa and Chelsea who they could have leapfrogged by taking all three points. Meanwhile, Newcastle have kicked on in the race for a top five spot after overcoming Enzo Maresca's 10-men earlier in the day.

Discussing the top five race, Eddie Howe said at full-time: “It’s a massive win for us. We knew that before the game, we knew the importance.

"It’s so tight, and that has put us in a stronger position, but it’s still very tight and we’ve got two games where we have to keep our focus and try to get as many points as we can."

Newcastle now head to Arsenal next weekend sat third in the table as they hunt down the Gunners in the final two games.