Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur. Premier League.
The City GroundAttendance29,296.
Report and free match highlights as Dejan Kulusevski set up Richarlison for Tottenham's opener; he then took advantage of a Matt Turner error to power home Spurs' second; Yves Bissouma shown a straight red card for a challenge on Ryan Yates; Anthony Elanga had a goal ruled out for offside
Saturday 16 December 2023 11:33, UK
Dejan Kulusevski scored one and made another as Tottenham won 2-0 at Nottingham Forest, although Spurs picked up another absentee after Yves Bissouma's red card.
It was a hard-fought and entertaining victory on Friday Night Football, and it was Spurs' first moment of quality that saw them ahead. Kulusevski's superb pass was nodded home by Richarlison (45+2) as Tottenham set a new record by scoring for the 15th consecutive away league game.
Nottingham Forest - who largely matched Spurs throughout - thought they had equalised early in the second half, but Anthony Elanga's tap-in was correctly ruled out by VAR for offside.
Tottenham made the moment count too as they added their second. Under pressure from Heung-Min Son, Matt Turner's lax pass fell to Kulusevski (65), who then powered home into the far corner.
Spurs can ill-afford any more missing players heading into the busy Christmas and New Year period, but Bissouma added his name to the list.
His studs-up challenge on Ryan Yates saw him receive a straight red card, and he will now be missing for Spurs until after the Africa Cup of Nations. Destiny Udogie too will be suspended for Spurs' next Premier League game against Everton on December 23 after picking up another yellow card.
Tottenham remain in fifth and go level on 33 points with Manchester City ahead of the remaining games this weekend. Nottingham Forest are still in 16th place, five points above the drop zone, but have now won just one of their last 13 Premier League games.
Afterwards, Forest boss Steve Cooper, who is coming under increasing pressure, admitted his frustration at errors made by his side around the Spurs goals.
"For the [first] goal, we've come off the plan, we haven't doubled up, we've let [Kulusevski] come inside," he said. "It's the one time they put a real free cross in and we've not marked in the box. That's the level.
"We started the second half well and then the second goal is not something you can do at any level, nevermind the Premier League. That killed the momentum."
Tottenham dominated the early exchanges, but were wasteful with their chances. Nottingham Forest soon began to find their feet, taking advantage of some sloppy Spurs play, although did end the first half without a shot on target.
There was yet another injury concern for Spurs around the half-hour mark. Brennan Johnson collided with Willy Boly in the air, and came off the worse. He was eventually replaced by Oliver Skipp in a concussion substitution, with the home fans claiming him as 'one of their own' as his City Ground return was bought to a premature end.
The sides continued to trade half chances, but Tottenham went ahead with their first moment of quality. It was a superb, curling cross in from Kulusevski, with Richarlison rising above his defender and the outcoming Matt Turner to nod home.
Nottingham Forest began the half with a wild shot over from Boly, and thought they had equalised just before the hour. Neco Williams' cross was turned home by Elanga - but VAR correctly ruled it out for offside.
But Tottenham almost immediately replied by doubling their lead. It was brilliant pressing from Son to press Turner, with the former Arsenal goalkeeper harried into a pass. It went straight to Kulusevski, who made himself some space before hammering the ball into the far corner.
However, Spurs were soon down to 10 players after a poor challenge from Bissouma. He caught Yates on the knee with his studs up, and after a VAR review, the midfielder was sent off. "He's shaking his head, but he knows," Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher said on co-commentary.
Although Tottenham ultimately marshalled things well with a player less, Nottingham Forest continued to press for a goal in the final 15 minutes. Their best chance came in the 84th minute, but Guglielmo Vicario somehow kept Harry Toffolo's header out, using his feet to push it away while simultaneously falling backwards in an incredible bit of goalkeeping.
The goalkeeper was involved again with one of the last kicks of the game as Neco Williams' effort pinged off the post and onto Vicario's body. But the ball kindly ended up on the post, as Tottenham came away with all three points.
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou on Sky Sports:
"It's a tough game here, you have to earn whatever you get. They're obviously pretty desperate for points. The crowd get behind them - every time they get a throw-in you feel like you've conceded a goal and they're launching it into the box. We had to deal with a lot of things we don't normally have to deal with.
"Great character. Obviously we had some adversity going down to 10 men. But some of our football was good as well, so a bit of everything."
On Richarlison starting through the middle again: "Richy is a goalmouth predator. Definitely in the air. He's got different attributes to Sonny. I didn't think we'd get in behind today, I thought we'd struggle to get space in behind and I'm really pleased with Richy. Watching him during the week I was really confident he'd go out there and do another job for us."
On Spurs' discipline: "I haven't seen it [Bissouma's red card] but I'm assuming they slowed it down and saw it.
"It's been a little bit of an issue. It's a fine line with those things. The players are aware of that, they don't want to miss games. The trepidation they put into players, today was more of a desperation tackle than something nasty.
"We've had to deal with that a few times this year. You can't go on doing that because eventually you'll pay a price for it, and we did against Chelsea. It's something we talk about constantly but it's a fine line between their commitment to what we're trying to do and not overstepping the mark.
"We lose [Bissouma, until after AFCON], we lose Udogie, I've got a feeling it's going to be that kind of season for us. We're not going to get a smooth run at anything. But that's alright, it's building resilience in the group.
"We've got plenty of reasons to make excuses, we haven't. We've gone through a rough trot, we've still got some tough games coming up. I think when you get through these periods and you're steadfast in what you're trying to do you come out stronger, provided you maintain belief."
Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper to Sky Sports:
"The result is always the most important [part] and will always write the narrative and we accept that.
"We played the game that we thought was the right one, playing on a fairly closed pitch and trying not to give Spurs too much space to play in. We can see how dangerous they can be.
"In the first half we did that fairly well. For the goal, we've come off the plan, we haven't doubled up, we've let [Kulusevski] come inside. It's the one time they put a real free cross in and we've not marked in the box. That's the level.
"But the other way, that's the bit we're not doing very well. When we're given moments in and around the opponent's box, we're not making it count. We're hitting final passes in the air and hitting to the wrong feet.
"We started the second half well and then the second goal is not something you can do at any level, nevermind the Premier League. That killed the momentum.
"There's always pressure and you have to deal with that if you want to excel and, in our case, survive at this level. That will continue. We'll stand up to be counted."
Forest have another home fixture to look forward to against Bournemouth on Saturday December 23, 3pm kick off.
Tottenham are also in action next Saturday, at home to Everton, 3pm kick off.
