Nottingham Forest's woeful away record continued as they were beaten 3-1 by Tottenham Hotspur in north London.
Spurs thought they were ahead as early as the third minute before Richarlison's strike was ruled out by VAR. But the hosts finally got the upper hand over Steve Cooper's hapless relegation battlers on 19 minutes with a Harry Kane goal. The England captain later doubled Spurs' lead from the penalty spot as Forest trailed 2-0 at the break.
The Reds started the second half brighter, with Felipe sending a shot over the opposition bar and Spurs keeper Fraser Forster saving a Brennan Johnson effort.
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But just when Forest looked like they might get a toehold in the game, Heung-Min Son killed their hopes by bagging a third for the hosts, leaving Joe Worrall to score a consolation goal for Forest, although Andre Ayew did squander a late penalty that could have made for an interesting climax at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Here is how the national media reported on events at the game...
The Guardian
Forest have now shipped nine goals in their last three visits to the capital but showed real determination even after going three goals down early in the second half.
Despite pulling one back through Worrall and having a penalty from substitute Andre Ayew saved by Fraser Forster in stoppage time, they now find themselves looking nervously over their shoulders again with only a three-point cushion between them and the bottom three. “We lost the game in the first half because we didn’t compete,” admitted a disappointed Steve Cooper, who revealed that Brennan Johnson is facing a scan in the week after limping off injured.
Cooper recalled Jesse Lingard to his starting lineup but he and the in-form Johnson struggled to make any impact against a determined home side that had been given extra incentive by Liverpool’s defeat against Bournemouth in the early kick-off. In only his eighth league start of the season, Richarlison in particular seemed intent on making his point and it was his skill that invited Forest captain Worrall to concede a clumsy penalty after Kane’s through ball nutmegged his defensive partner Felipe.
For a split second, it seemed that the Tottenham captain may have directed his spot kick over the crossbar once again but, to his undoubted relief, it found the net. Cooper withdrew Lingard at the break and Forest almost found a way back into it when Morgan Gibbs-White found space down the right flank, only for Forster to pull off a solid save at his near post.
To their credit, Forest never gave up and Forster denied Serge Aurier a goal against his former club before making another excellent save to stop Emmanuel Dennis. He could do nothing about Worrall’s goal eight minutes from time after Felipe had won the initial header from a corner before Forster was called into action again to save Ayew’s late penalty after substitute Dejan Kulusevski handled inside the area.
The Daily Mail
Forest did not summon a shot until first half stoppage time when a long-range drive by Jonjo Shelvey deflected wide.
Steve Cooper, who criticised Forest's lack of aggression in the first half, made two changes and tweaked the shape of his team, and there were flickers of encouragement with efforts wide by Shelvey and Felipe. Brennan Johnson forced Forster into a fine save with a low shot on the break before Spurs stretched further ahead through Son.
Little was going right for Cooper’s team. Johnson came off with a groin strain, which will concern Forest fans, and Chris Wood injured his thigh within seconds of coming on as a substitute. Back-up keeper Wayne Hennessey pulled out after hurting a knee in the warm-up. But they improved in a fluent and open second half.
Forster made a terrific reflex save to turn over a header by Aurier from a corner before Worrell pulled a goal back with a header from a corner flicked on by Felipe. Forster was left punching at thin air but made amends by saving a penalty in stoppage time, awarded by the VAR for handball against Kulusevski.
Like Kane, Ayew went down the centre but the Spurs keeper made the block with his feet.
The Independent
Forest boss Steve Cooper did his best to stem the tide with forwards Emmanuel Dennis and Ayew introduced at the break.
Forest had briefly threatened before Son’s effort with Felipe hooking over and Brennan Johnson testing Forster from a tight angle. Cooper’s woes continued when substitute Chris Wood was forced off with an injury but Navas denied Ben Davies and Son to keep the score respectable before the goal-shy visitors grabbed a consolation.
Worrall headed home at the back post after Felipe’s flick-on from a corner and further drama followed when substitute Kulusevski was penalised for handball inside the area.
Forster managed to save Ayew’s spot-kick and, with Liverpool losing away to Bournemouth earlier in the day, Spurs again have control of the fourth-place scrap.
BBC Sport
This was the latest in a string of poor displays away from the City Ground for Steve Cooper's side.
Forest have won just once away from home in the league all season and remain the lowest scorers on the road so far this term, having registered only four goals on their travels. They have also failed to score a first-half goal in 18 of their 26 top-flight games - only Everton have a worse record in the opening 45 minutes of games.
Cooper's team improved marginally in the second half. Brennan Johnson stung Forster's palms with a low drive before Serge Aurier's header was acrobatically tipped over the crossbar by the Tottenham goalkeeper.
Worrall did get on the scoreboard when he headed into an empty net after Forster had missed his punch at a corner, but Ayew's late penalty miss ended Forest's hopes of an unlikely comeback. The visitors were denied a second consolation by Fraser Forster, who saved Andre Ayew's late penalty after Dejan Kulusevski's handball.
Forest stay 14th but their cushion over the bottom three has been cut to three points.
Sky Sports
Forest scored a late consolation (81) through Joe Worrall's header, with substitute Andre Ayew seeing his stoppage-time penalty saved by Fraser Forster.
Defeat for Steve Cooper's side leaves them three points above the relegation zone, having won just once away from home in the Premier League this season. The travelling Forest support were rewarded with just their fourth away league goal of the season when Worrall headed home at the back post after Felipe's flick-on from a corner.
They nearly had a second to celebrate when Spurs substitute Dejan Kulusevski was penalised for handball inside the area following a VAR review. But Ayew saw his spot-kick saved by Forster in the 96th minute to cap off a miserable day for the visitors, who were forced to take star man Brennan Johnson off in the second half with a groin injury, with the Welshman set to have a scan.
"The first-half performance was really where the game was won and lost. We didn't compete well enough in the game. I didn't like us in the duels, the one-vs-ones, even in tackling.
"It just wasn't at the competitive level it needed to be. If anything the disallowed goal should've been the warning sign."
Name your Forest man of the match at Spurs in the comments section...
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