Nottingham Forest return to third place in the Premier League with a 1-2 win at Hotspur Stadium on Monday.
Forest were quick off the mark, Elliot Anderson’s deflected shot bouncing beyond Vicario after just five minutes, before Chris Wood would have an effort ruled out by VAR after ten. He would head home again with just over a quarter of an hour played, though, to double the guests’ lead.
From there, Forest largely coasted. After Wood’s goal, they would not have another shot until well after half-time, content to sit back and let the hosts dictate the play.
And Spurs did grow into the game after looking far from convincing in the opening stages, but Richarlison’s wayward shooting would prevent them from drawing level before the break as he headed wide of the mark on two occasions. Mathys Tel would also lash a shot well wide after Neco Williams’ bungled clearance left him face to face with Matz Sels.
The match mellowed somewhat in the second half as Tottenham tired of their frenetic drives forward, but it was the hosts who continued to have the better of the play.
Dejan Kulusevski went agonisingly close as he headed a corner across goal, but Harry Toffolo was at full stretch to deny him, clearing his effort off the line. Sels would later get down to the line remarkably quickly to deny Richarlison a headed goal.
The Brazilian’s moment would still come, though, as he pulled one back for the hosts with three minutes remaining in regular time, but it would be too little, too late for Tottenham, who chalk up an eighteenth loss of the season.
It is bad news for Newcastle, Manchester City, and Chelsea, who are all leapfrogged by Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in the battle for Champions League qualification.
