Chris Wood and Elliot Anderson scored first-half goals as Nottingham Forest kept hold of all three points despite’s Tottenham Hotspur’s best efforts in a 2-1 match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday.
MORE — Ange Postecoglou’s reaction
Forest snapped a two-match losing skid to return to third place on the Premier League table, three points clear of sixth-place Chelsea and seventh-place Aston Villa in the fight for the table’s five berths in the UEFA Champions League.
WATCH — Spurs v Nottingham Forest full match replay
Richarlison’s late goal was the only marker for Spurs, who controlled the game but came up short in a comeback bid. Tottenham Hotspur lost a game in which they scored for the 11th time this season.
Spurs’ 37 points are 16th on the table, just one more than 17th-place West Ham.
Spurs give Forest what they wanted
Tottenham Hotspur looked like a top-five contender aside from 2-3 moments on Monday, two of which went into their goal. Spurs can outscore teams, for sure, but giving a disciplined, win-hungry team like Nottingham Forest a 2-0 lead is just begging to lose another game. As stated above, this was the 11th time Spurs have scored and lost a Premier League game this season. That’s never going to be good enough to contend for European qualification unless you’re peak Barcelona (in which case you have a pretty good group of defenders anyway, but we digress). The fine margins of the Premier League can go in your favor if you set yourself up to play your best game. Spurs set Forest up to play theirs, and paid for it despite a final 70 minutes that was pleasing on the eye.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest player ratings
(from fotmob.com)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest player ratings (from fotmob.com)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest player ratings (from fotmob.com)
What’s next?
Forest play Man City at 11:30am ET Sunday in an FA Cup semifinal inside Wembley Stadium, then host Brentford on Thursday, May 1 in a return to the Premier League.
Spurs go to Liverpool on Sunday, where they’ll either be facing the freshly-minted Premier League champions or meeting a Reds team that can seal the title with a win.
How to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 3pm ET Monday
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — North London
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest final score: 1-2
Elliot Anderson 5', Chris Wood 17', Richarlison 87'
Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest live updates
Full time — Spurs 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Richarlison gets his goal! Spurs 1-2 Forest (87th mintue)
Johnson whips in a cross from the right and Richarlison soars into the air to turn a header inside the far post.
It felt like it was coming, but is a second in the stars?
EDIT: It was Pedro Porro on the cross.
Sels saves again
Richarlison has been knocking atn the door, and he’s been denied by a fine save from Sels.
Into the final 10 minutes. Lucas Bergvall has replaced Pape Sarr.
Chris Wood’s day is done
He scored his 19th goal of the PL season but he won’t go 90 tonight.
Taiwo Awoniyi takes his place in the 76th minute.
Spurs subs
Ex-Forest man Brennan Johnson replaces Wilson Odobert while Dominic Solanke takes the place of Dejan Kulusevski.
Matz Sels shaken up making save
Nico Williams clears a ball off teammate Ryan Yates’ back, and the ball bounds onto a plate for Richarlison.
The Brazilian is quickly closed down by Matz Sels, and takes the full weight of a right-footed shot in chest.
It’s a big block, and he’ll stay in the game after some treatment on the pitch.
2-0 Forest, 68'.
Spurs pressing to narrow deficit
Forest’s Harry Toffolo clears a ball off the goal line in the 64th minute, as Spurs have held the ball but been unable to bite into Forest’s lead.
Forest had brought on Ryan Yates and Callum Hudson-Odoi for Nicolas Dominguez and Danilo a few minutes before the chance.
Halftime subs
Micky van de ven and Cristian Romero come off for Ben Davies and Kevin Danso.
Halftime — Spurs 0-2 Forest
Spurs are getting Nuno’d by their old boss.
Tottenham have held 67% of the ball, are out-attempting Forest 10-3, and have produced a full xG more than the Tricky Trees (1.34-0.33).
They trail 2-0.
Chris Wood goal — Spurs 0-2 Forest (17th minute)
The reprieve was brief.
Anthony Elanga whips in a hard cross and Wood nods it past a charging Vicario for 2-0.
Chris Wood goal overturned by VAR
Chris Wood darts past the Spurs back line and turns a laser diagonal ball off Vicario and over the line.
But he moved an instant too early, and Spurs save the blushes of being down 2-0 after 11 minutes.
Elliot Anderson goal — Spurs 0-1 Forest (5th minute)
Guglielmo Vicario makes a fine save to deny Morgan Gibbs-White but delivers a corner kick to Forest.
A whipped-in ball from the right is partially-cleared, but Elliot Anderson pounces on it and slams a shot that turns off Rodrigo Bentancur’s thigh to defy Vicario.
Away we go
Forest kick off and we’re in play at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham Hotspur lineup
Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence, Sarr, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Odobert, Richarlison, Tel
Nottingham Forest lineup
Sels, Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Toffolo, Danilo, Dominguez, Anderson, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Wood
Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest preview
Spurs are into the semifinals of the Europa League, closing in on a title despite living deeeeeep down the Premier League table in 15th place. Ange Postecoglou, as he’s famously noted, has a habit of winning trophies in his second seasons at a club. Will his Spurs keep their focus in their surprisingly low-consequence Run-In to the league?
Forest were in Spurs’ position last season but have surged up the Premier League table, their 57 points 20 more than their Monday hosts.
In third place for most of the season, Forest have sunk below Newcastle, Man City and Chelsea, while Aston Villa are level on points with Forest now. Champions League qualification is very much in question for Nuno Espirito Santo.
Tottenham Hotspur team news, focus
OUT: Radu Dragusin (torn ACL - out for season) | QUESTIONABLE: Heung-min Son (foot), James Maddison (knock)
Nottingham Forest team news, focus
QUESTIONABLE: Taiwo Awoniyi (thigh), Ola Aina (calf)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest prediction
This feels like it could be a cagey one, as Spurs are 1W-1D-4L in their last half-dozen Premier League games but are dealing with the infusion of good vibes from their UEL quarterfinal triumph over Eintracht Frankfurt. Forest are a good team, too, and smarting from consecutive losses to Villa and Everton. Both will show up for a fight. Are Spurs up for it? Spurs 2-2 Nottingham Forest.
