21 April 2025
Tottenham 1 Nott’m Forest 2
This has been another season to forget for Spurs’ fans. While there is no love lost between them and their North London rivals Arsenal, there is one trait both teams share currently. Supporting either side is like watching Netflix, you are always waiting for the next season. They welcomed Nott’m Forest to the capital with the visitors hungry for victory.
It seems like Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have been in the top four all season now. However, things have got so tight in the battle for Champions League spots, the unthinkable could still happen. When Forest got into the qualification places to surprise many, every pundit predicted them falling away before the season is out.
That would be even more of a bitter pill to swallow this late in the season. You could not ask for a better situation to be in though, their destiny is in their own hands. After losing at home against Everton in their last match, the visitors needed to find a response if they want to pit their wits against Europe’s elite next season.
They made a statement of intent straight from kick-off. Anderson played it into Gibbs-White, who turned with the ball into space. He struck a venomous shot towards goal but Vicario got down well to beat the effort out. Spurs could not afford the visitors to utilise space in between the lines like they did. With so many creative players, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will punish you.
Not that he would admit it publicly, there was an added incentive for him to get a positive result in North London. The manager was sacked when in charge of Spurs and would love nothing more than to show the hierarchy of the hosts what an error they made with that decision. It did not take long for his Forest side to do just that.
As Tottenham failed to clear their lines from a corner, Anderson struck a superb half-volley from the edge of the box. It took a deflection off Bentancur, which caused the ball to bounce up on Vicario and beat him. The away end erupted and Nott’m Forest had their early lead in the capital. The home fans seem accustomed to seeing sides going ahead against them in their own backyard by now.
Tottenham looked so static in defence and nobody was tracking their runners. As a free-kick was played to Elanga out wide, he had plenty of time to plan his cross before a Spurs’ player was anywhere near him. Wood rose in the box to flick past Vicario, who had come charging out to try and punch it in his usual madcap style.
With only sixteen minutes of the game gone, the hosts found themselves two goals down. Odobert put a cross into the box and it was defended terribly by Forest as the ball broke to an unmarked Tel at the back post. He seemed to snatch at the chance as he shanked his effort horrifically wide of the target. Now you could see why he was not getting much game time at Bayern Munich.
If there were an award for ‘miss of the season’ this next effort would surely be in there. It was Odobert who put another teasing cross into the danger area. Richarlison and Sarr were queueing up at the back post, completely unmarked, a few yards out. The only baffling thing was how the Brazilian actually put it wide of the goal with a glancing header.
After the interval, the visitors should have put the game to bed. As Sels punted the ball downfield, Wood flicked it on into the path of Gibbs-White. He only had the keeper to beat and his drilled effort left Vicario rooted to the spot. It missed the near post by a narrow margin but the England midfielder’s face said that he knew he should be scoring such chances.
Postecoglou’s side forced a corner and almost got the home fans believing they could get something out of this game. Porro’s cross was met at the near post by Kulusevski. His glancing header seemed destined for the far corner but Toffolo made one of the clearances of the season. The Forest player acrobatically volleyed it off the goal line to keep their two-goal lead intact.
Forest almost then gifted a goal to Spurs as an attempted clearance ricocheted off one of their own players and headed towards Sels’ goal. Richarlison only had the keeper to beat but he was quick off his line to spread himself and make an impressive block. The hosts had started creating enough clear-cut chances to have turned this game on its head.
Porro’s pinpoint crosses were causing problems for the Forest defence. This time he picked out Richarlison in the box and the Brazilian seemed to do everything right with his header. However, Sels made an incredible save to claw it out of the bottom corner at full-stretch. At this point, Ange Postecoglou must have realised this was not going to be their day.
With only minutes remaining, Porro once again found the former Everton striker and this time his header nestled into the bottom corner of the goal. Sadly for the hosts it proved to be too little too late. Nott’m Forest were able to hold on to take all three points and move back into the top four. On another day, Spurs could have won this game with their second-half performance alone.
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