Steve Cooper has admitted that Newcastle United were the 'better team' and 'deserved' to beat his Nottingham Forest side on the opening day of the new season.
Second-half goals from Fabian Schar and Callum Wilson gave Newcastle a 2-0 win against newly-promoted Forest at St James' Park on Saturday and, in truth, the Magpies should have won the game by a bigger margin. Newcastle, after all, had 61% possession, 23 shots and 11 corners in the hosts' most dominant Premier League display in years.
Forest, in contrast, failed to test debutant Nick Pope in the Newcastle goal as the visitors started their first top-flight campaign in 23 years with a defeat. Cooper certainly had no complaints after the game, but was keen to point out that it took a screamer from Schar for Newcastle to finally break the deadlock before the hour mark.
