Tottenham 3 Nott'm Forest 1
With their rivals dropping points the day before, Ange Postecoglou knew this game presented a huge chance in their push for fourth spot. Nott’m Forest were the visitors to the capital and needed points for their plight of Premier League survival.
Spurs looked to put the pressure on from the off, yet they were lacking the killer pass in the final third. Postecoglou’s side were knocking on the door with no intent of coming in. As Forest won the ball, Murillo tried an outlandish effort from deep in his own half with Vicario off his line.
The Tottenham keeper scrambled back to his goal, obviously worried about the effort. Fortunately for the hosts, the ball dropped just wide of the post. Had the Brazilian’s effort gone in, we would have probably been seeing a goal of the season contender.
Murillo was to go from would-be hero to definite zero in a matter of moments. The ball was worked to Werner out wide, he got to the byline and played the ball across the box. The centre back slid in to try and deal with it and diverted the ball into his own goal with no Spurs’ attacker in sight.
Credit: @premierleague
Tottenham almost doubled their lead when the German put another dangerous ball in, which was met on the volley by Johnson. Only a sublime save from Sels denied the hosts. It was almost a carbon copy of the Welshman’s goal against West Ham.
Nott’m Forest came forward and Elanga played a ball into the box. It deflected off Romero and into the path of Wood. The striker stroked the ball into the bottom corner to silence the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against the run of play.
Moments later Yates shot from around the penalty spot and Vicario did well to get down and save. As he parried it out, Wood was there once again, with the keeper on the floor. The striker drilled his shot against the post and back out when you would have put money on him to score.
With a Forest player down on the floor, Tottenham looked to turn the screw. As they tried to work the ball into the box, Johnson’s cross deflected off Aina and clipped the top of the crossbar. Yates was still down and demanding that VAR look at what happened.
The visitors’ midfielder claimed he was punched by Maddison. Despite the replay seeming to confirm his claims, VAR decided to do nothing about the incident. Maybe they had all popped out for coffee in Stockley Park. Another example of the technology being as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Into the second half and Anthony Joshua, I mean James Maddison, forced a corner. As the ball was half-cleared, Hojbjerg tried his luck from distance and it was tipped over the crossbar by Sels. Tottenham were looking to put the pressure on the visitors.
Credit: @SpursOfficial
Maddison then got the byline and pinged in a cross, which was flicked on at the near post by Bentancur. Porro was lurking at the back post and hammered the ball home to double the hosts’ lead. It had been the perfect start to the second-half for Postecoglou’s side.
Late on in the game Son had the chance to put the icing on the cake as he got a left-footed shot away but Sels made a fantastic save to tip the effort onto the post to deny him. The January signing has impressed for Forest since his arrival.
Tottenham took all three points and moved to fourth in the table. Forest’s battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League looks like it will go all the way to the end of the campaign. Postecoglou’s side are now in pole position for Champions League qualification.
Did you enjoy this article? Please share to your social media. With one click you can help spread the word and make Solid at the Back the one-stop shop for all Premier League fans.