Nottingham Forest 2 Newcastle United 1

Never in their worst nightmares, however, could they have imagined a night quite like this.

On one of the most remarkable evenings for many a season, Darlow saved two penalties in a little over ten minutes and Lascelles scored a decisive 86th-minute own goal as nine-man Newcastle eventually succumbed to a 2-1 defeat despite holding on with a two-man disadvantage for just about all of the second half.

Penny for his thoughts - Rafa Benitez has plenty to ponder. Picture: PA

Jonjo Shelvey and Paul Dummett were both controversially dismissed before the interval – the first for a weak kick at Henri Lansbury and the second for bundling into the same opponent – as referee Stephen Martin turned in a display that was hard to fathom.

Martin also disallowed Ciaran Clark’s first-half header for the weakest of pulls, and while Nicklas Bendtner, who missed one of Forest’s penalties, scrambled home an equaliser to cancel out Matt Ritchie’s first-half strike, Newcastle came within four minutes of claiming a point.

Lascelles and Clark were titanic at the heart of the back four, but their resistance was eventually broken when Lascelles was unable to get out of the way after a corner was flicked on at the front post. Nevertheless, this was still a night when Newcastle’s new-found spirit came shining through.

They will relinquish top spot if Brighton beat Cardiff City later today, but they were still able to leave Nottingham with their heads held high. Sometimes, you learn more about your players in defeat than when things are going well. This was certainly a case of Benitez discovering just how much heart there is in the Magpies’ dressing room.

It was as crazy a night as there has been this season, yet for more than half-a-hour, very little happened. Ritchie and Yoan Gouffran whistled shots just wide of the target at one end, Darlow flung himself to the ground to make a decent save from Cash at the other. It was all very humdrum and routine; then all hell broke loose.

A quite incredible passage of play began with the first red card of the evening, and featured the first of a series of increasingly unfathomable refereeing decisions from Martin.

Shelvey was the first Newcastle player to see red, dismissed for flicking his leg out at Forest attacker Lansbury.

Lansbury had antagonised Shelvey by fouling him in the Magpies area, and the former Arsenal trainee undoubtedly made the most of his opponent’s kick out as the pair clambered off the floor. The actual contact was minimal, but Shelvey should not have put himself in a position where a straight red card was an option. Every now and then when it comes to the former England international, the red mist descends.

He will miss the next three matches, and with his hearing for an alleged breach of the misconduct regulations due to be heard in the week before Christmas, he could now be sidelined until February.

Former Sunderland striker Bendtner stepped up to the penalty spot, but Darlow produced a sensational save as he hurled himself to his left to keep the ball out. It was not to be his only act of 12-yard escapology before the interval.

Reduced to ten men, Newcastle swept upfield and thought they had claimed the lead when Clark headed home Ritchie’s free-kick. Cue referee Martin’s second controversial decision of the evening when he ruled the attempt out for a tug on Forest centre-half Michael Mancienne. Again, it was a tight decision; again Newcastle found themselves on the wrong end of it.

No matter. Two minutes later and the Magpies took things out of the officials’ hands when they scored a goal that could not be contested.

Isaac Hayden teed up Ritchie with a square ball across the face of the area, and the Scotland international swept a polished finish into the top left-hand corner.

It was hard to fathom what was going on, but things took an even more bizarre turn in the final minute of the first half as Newcastle were reduced to nine men. Not unsurprisingly, it was another hugely controversial moment.

Lansbury had got onto the wrong side of the Magpies defence as the visitors attempted to reorganise, and Dummett stumbled into the back of the attacker, sending him tumbling to the ground. Again, contact was minimal, again Lansbury made the most of it. Again, though, the referee reached for his pocket.

Dummett was off, Lansbury took over penalty duties, but Darlow was the hero once again. This time flinging himself to his right, the former Forest shot-stopper produced his second spot-kick save in the space of 11 minutes.

Three nights earlier, Matz Sels hadn’t looked like keeping out any of Hull’s penalties. Had Darlow been playing at the KCOM Stadium, it’s hard not to wonder what might have been.

As it was, Newcastle spent the half-time interval of last night’s game attempting to work out how on earth they were going to survive for 45 minutes with two fewer men than their opponents.

The answer was by bringing on Vurnon Anita for Ayoze Perez and adopting a rarely-seen 4-1-2-1 formation, but while the Magpies battled gamely despite their huge numerical disadvantage, it only took Forest seven minutes to claim an equaliser.

It was a hugely scrappy affair, and was also extremely harsh on Darlow, who produced a fine save to keep out Bendtner’s header, but who was unable to prevent the same player from scrambling home the rebound from inside the six-yard box. It was Bendtner’s fifth career goal against Newcastle, more than he has managed against any other English side.

Unsurprisingly, Newcastle’s goal was under siege for the majority of the second half, and Bendtner should have done better on the hour mark when he fired over wastefully following a cross from the right. Former Middlesbrough midfielder Mustapha Carayol also tested Darlow with a low shot, moments after coming off the bench.

However, the hosts were unable to carve out a succession of clear-cut opportunities, largely because of the quality of the defending from Lascelles, who gave everything in an attempt to prevent a defeat on his return to the City Ground, and Clark, who was a towering presence at the heart of the back four throughout the second half.

There was a scare with 16 minutes left, with DeAndre Yedlin having to clear Bendtner’s flicked header from the goalline, but on one of their rare second-half forays forward, Newcastle went close to reclaiming their lead when Hayden cut in from the left and curled just past the far post.

That would have been a truly remarkable twist, but as it was, Forest claimed a winner with four minutes left.

It was another scrappy goal, with Lascelles deflecting the ball into his own net after a corner was flicked on at the front post. The centre-half left the field utterly dejected, but the 2,000-or-so Newcastle fans who cheered him to the rafters knew just how close he had come to salvaging what would have been an extraordinary result.