That’s the lot for tonight. Thanks for reading and emailing in. Good night.
Postecoglou speaks: “It had a little bit of everything I guess. We started the game well enough but when they scored, we lost our way.
“Second half I thought we were really dominant. Against a team that is fighting for everything, I thought we handled it well.
“Mickey can strike a ball … [it’s] just a bit of composure in those positions. Two quality strikes and Mickey’s was outstanding.
“It wasn’t about being happy or unhappy [at half time]. Just some energy. Pierre and Rodri were outstanding when they came on, not just the energy, but the quality.”
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Ben Bloom is on the scene for us at Tottenham Stadium:
“It was a nice evening,” Mickey van der Ven tells Sky. “It was a really important game for us, and a huge three points.”
He is asked to take us through the goal. “I saw Sonny got the ball. I thought: "Pass it to me, and I’ll just bang it.” And I saw it flying in, and then I thought about celebrating. It was my first goal in this stadium and I’ll never forget it.
“It was an important game for us. We knew it. Now we have to build on it.”
Werner has a chat too: “I do my best as I can do to assist, and help the team with those runs and those balls … I’m very happy that this guy [Van der Ven] scored a goal today.
“I have to smile because I am standing next to him … no I’m enjoying it a lot [at Spurs], with these teammates and in this stadium, yeah, I love it!”
The Spurs teammates have a chuckle as Werner gives Van der Ven his player of the match champagne. They are clearly good friends. How lovely!
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Here’s Sam Dalling’s report from Sheffield United 2-2 Chelsea:
Post-match reaction, not to mention a match report, will be coming up.
Full-time! Tottenham 3-1 Nottingham Forest
It’s over. Spurs are fourth, overtaking Villa in the Premier League table. Those Champions League readies are looking in reach.
Forest are 17th, only ahead of Luton on goal difference, and still in deep trouble.
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95 min: Kulusevski skips away down the right. He tries to square for Son, whose running is as relentless as ever. Omobamidele intercepts the attempted cross, though, and Son runs into the goal and jumps up, hanging off the crossbar, signalling his frustration at not getting a tap-in for 4-1.
94 min: Hudson-Odoi now escapes down the left but his cross to the far post is overhit. Beyond the far post, in truth.
92 min: Sangare spreads a good looking ball out to the right wing for Forest from midfield. But Tottenham’s defending is solid, they win the ball back, and can quickly counter. Forest are not mounting any sustained pressure on Spurs.
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90 min: We will have six minutes added on, minimum.
89 min: Mickey Van der Ven is named player of the match.
David Hytner had a chat with him this week:
88 min: Origi runs down what looks like a blind alley for Forest … but he wins a free-kick for a clumsy challenge by Romero. Hudson-Odoi will take. He bends it high over the crossbar – a naff effort.
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87 min: Williams off, Montiel on for Forest. Nuno, arms folded, looks suitably far from gruntled on the touchline.
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85 min: Son cracks a low, powerful, swerving shot that is fizzing into the bottom corner. Sels does brilliantly to get a strong left hand on it and push it out for a corner.
83 min: Forest can’t get anything going. Neither can Spurs.
It has been announced that Joe Kinnear has died. RIP
Everyone connected with Wimbledon was deeply saddened to hear the news that our former manager, Joe Kinnear, has passed away.
— AFC Wimbledon (@AFCWimbledon) April 7, 2024
A true legend of the Club, Joe gave us some amazing memories that we treasure.
Our deepest condolences go to his family at this difficult time 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/goeKQbS935
82 min: A defensive mix up nearly hands Reyna, the Borussia Dortmund loanee, a chance to shoot. But Spurs scramble the ball clear.
80 min: More changes by Forest. Danilo and Yates off. Reyna and Sangare come on. Can the new kids make a game of this?
78 min: Hojbjerg hits the free-kick. Corner for Spurs after it bounces off the wall. Sels claims the corner. Am I really tired, or is this game just terrible now?
77 min: Udogie and Son link on the Spurs left. Lo Celso is fouled by Danilo and is booked. It’s all a bit scruffy from both teams. But Tottenham have a free-kick in a dangerous spot for the visitors.
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75 min: Maddison and Werner go off, for the aforementioned Kulusevski and Lo Celso.
73 min: Williams takes the set piece for Forest and it’s not a bad one, but Spurs clear their lines. Udogie and Werner are soon streaming into the Forest half on the counter. Tottenham have rediscovered the attacking verve that characterised the first 20 minutes or so. Kulusevski and Lo Celso are getting ready to come on.
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72 min: Hudson-Odoi makes a dart down the Forest left. He plays the ball back from a teammate and gets a kick from Porro and falls to a heap off the pitch. It’s a free-kick in a wide but advanced area for Forest …
69 min: The pace and passion has gone out of this match again. Spurs are right on top though. Forest cannot get any attacking momentum at all. A Forest goal would sure make things interesting, mind you, if they could fluke one.
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67 min: Forest’s Gibbs-White and Wood are withdrawn by Nuno. Origi and Dominguez on.
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Full time: Sheffield United 2-2 Chelsea
Full-time.#CFC | #ShuChe pic.twitter.com/7BrpllUEJM
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 7, 2024
66 min: “One of the many things I love about Ange is he isn’t afraid to make drastic changes at half-time,” emails Andrew. “Not the first time this season that his substitutions have had a massive and instant impact.”
64 min: Werner’s been a real nuisance for the Forest defence. He skips down the left wing again and sends over another trademark low cross, that evades everyone in the middle.
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Sheffield United 2-2 Chelsea is a latest score in stoppage time at Bramall Lane … McBurnie with the equaliser for the Blades.
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60 min: Forest push looking to immediately eat into that two-goal deficit. Elanga tries to meet a cross at the far post but balloons an attemped cutback for a teammate over the bar and out for a goal kick. Spurs attack fluently and the move ends with Maddison shooting, the ball deflecting out for a corner. In the next passage of play Hojbjerg shoots from distance but straight at Vicario.
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Maddison escapes down the left after more decent work by Werner. He gets to the byline and cuts a decent ball back. It flicks off someone in the middle and falls to Porro, who crashes a half-volley into the net from inside the area! That’s more like it as far as the Spurs fans are concerned. Spurs have certainly raised their game since half time and Postecoglou must really have got “into them”.
Goal! 57 min: Tottenham 3-1 Nottingham Forest (Porro)
Spurs are on fire!
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55 min: Hudson-Odoi embarks on a run into a forest (pardon the pun) of Spurs defenders. He is duly crowded out. Spurs counter and Gibbs-White is booked for a strong challenge. Nuno not happy.
Son finds Van der Ven on the edge of the box. At least three Forest defenders are in close attendance, but they stand off long enough for the Dutchman to take a touch and then slam an unstoppable left-footed shot that flies into the top corner, to the right of Sels in the Forest goal. A cracking strike and a real net-buster. The keeper was perhaps a bit unsighted, but he wouldn’t have saved it anyway. Van der Ven celebrates with gusto. The Spurs fans reciprocate.
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Goal! 52 min: Tottenham 2-1 Nottingham Forest (Van de Ven)
Boom!
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50 min: Aina launches a long throw into the Spurs six-yard box. It’s flicked on to Wood, who in turn flicks it goalwards … Vicario makes a comfortable save. Before the throw, Gibbs-White was urging Murillo and someone else to come up for it and put the Spurs defence under plenty of pressure. Forest fancy this now.
48 min: It’s all happening now. Neco Williams darts down the right for Forest. He chips a good cross to the far post for Wood, who directs a header back across goal from an angle. It bounces just wide, but he’s offside anyway.
47 min: From a corner, the substitute Hojbjerg belts a brilliant, powerful, curling shot which is flying in the top corner … until Sels dives to his left and pulls off a stunning save!
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Second half kick-off!
Postecoglou mixes it up and nearly gives Dan his wish: Bentancur and Hojbjerg are on. Sarr and Bissouma off. Will that be a better midfield recipe for Spurs?
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“Shocked by how leggy Spurs look for a team that has no European football,” emails Dan. “The Forest goal highlighted the abysmal tracking and defending of Udogie and Bissouma, both trotting rather than sprinting with urgency to provide pressure. Maddison also has been underwhelming since his return from injury and is not controlling the tempo of games as he had at the start of the season. Think Spurs need to sub on Hojbjerg and Kulusevski at halftime to kickstart a charge.”
That very long-range Murillo effort, early in the half, was from 81 yards.
“He’s got to hit the target there, surely?” quips Roy Keane.
Any thoughts? Send me an email.
Check out Jamie Jackson’s match report from Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool:
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Half-time! Tottenham 1-1 Nottingham Forest
A bit of an odd game, all told, but what do you expect at 6pm on a Sunday?
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45 min +3: Forest win a free-kick in an advanced area. Gibbs-White hits a classy ball with the outside of his boot for Elanga to chase to the byline. The resulting cross is patted out by Vicario for a corner … but Spurs hold firm to end the first half.
44 min: Maddison and Yates clash off the ball in the Forest penalty area with the hosts on the attack. Yates goes down. He appears to ask the referee to check VAR, which as Bill Leslie says on commentary, is technically a bookable offence. And he’s already gone in the book. Anyway, there is no action by the VAR, and no action by the referee, and Yates smiles as he talks it over with Maddison and the referee, and then they all get on with the game.
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41 min: Werner tries to run it out from the back. He turns back and passes to a teammate who is fouled by Wood. Forest look much more purposeful, with and without the ball, than they did early doors.
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40 min: Bissouma tries to put his foot on it in midfield, but falls over and gifts possession to Forest. Thus, Tottenham’s last 15 minutes or so in this match is summed up. They were right on top, but now Forest are the better side.
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37 min: Postecoglou, the Tottenham manager, is a visibly concerned figure on the sidelines. Now Elanga runs at Spurs and shoots low, but straight at Vicario, who saves easily.
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34 min: Woods hits the post for Forest from about two and a half yards! Aina escapes down the Forest left, runs into the area, and squares into space around the penalty spot. Yates slides in to sidefoot an effort which is going to nestle in the bottom corner but is well saved by a diving Vicario. Wood then has what looks a straightforward task to follow up and score, but he hammers a shot against the post! Surely he should have just lifted that gently rather than belt it.
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33 min: Forest have a corner. It’s repelled once by Spurs, and Hudson-Odoi nearly slips with Son challenging him … but he keeps his feet, and Forest come again.
31 min: Son feeds Werner, in space again down the left yet again. Teammates are waiting in the middle, and the German tries a first-time cross which comes off the top of his boot and flies over the bar. The fans howl.
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The Forest equaliser is about the pace of Elanga and a couple of simple passes. He links with Gibbs-White down the Forest right, a simple one-two with his teammate, and the Tottenham defence appears to fall asleep for a crucial moment. Elanga crosses for Wood, who thrashes a low finish into the far corner past Vicario from close range.
A weirdly easy goal for Forest to score and a soft one for Spurs to concede.
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Goal! 27 min: Tottenham 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Wood)
Level!
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23 min: Nearly 2-0, and nearly created by Werner again – he stands Williams up and then bursts beyond the defender with impressive skill and pace. The German forward clips a low cross in for Son from the Tottenham left. Son is at point-blank range in front of goal and sidefoots a first-time shot which is brilliantly saved by Sels in nets.
This is where Werner can be so dangerous: he is full of pace and is a willing runner.
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22 min: Porro finds Son, who is challenged by Yates in the area. The South Korean goes down and wants a penalty but Simon Hooper is unmoved.
20 min: The game has settled now but not into a shape that will please Forest fans. They have a bank of five, then three defenders stationed around the edge of their penalty area. Nuno’s side badly need to improve their possession and territory stats if they are going to get anything this evening.
17 min: Bissouma has yet another shot from 20 odd yards.
That opening goal, meanwhile, has lifted Spurs into fourth in the live table.
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Werner is released down the left by Son. He advances into the penalty area and quickly squares into the danger zone, where Murillo is tracking back and tries to block the cross, but can only turn the ball into the net. There is a VAR check for offside against Werner but the goal is soon confirmed. Tottenham lead and Forest need to have a think about their defensive gameplan.
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Goal! 15 min: Tottenham 1-0 Nottingham Forest (Murillo OG)
Spurs lead!
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13 min: Maddison turns Yates in midfield, watching a ball past his left shoulder and hoping to run on to it. Yates is caught on the wrong side and chooses to cynically block the Spurs man. He is booked. And he’ll need to be careful.
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12 min: Bissouma has another shot which is deflected over. Forest really are sitting deep, looking to soak up the pressure and hit on the break. Or just try and score from about 75 yards, a la Murillo.
10 min: Blimey! Murillo of Forest has the ball on the left, about halfway inside the visitors’ own half. He looks ahead for options and spots that Vicario off his line, about half a mile away, and drills a frankly mad attempt on goal which very nearly bounces into the top corner. Vicario is scrambling back desperately but is beaten by the well-struck incredibly long-range shot that sails over his head. The goalkeeper must be relieved – to say the least – to see the ball bounce just wide of the empty net.
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8 min: Space opens up for Forest down their right. Elanga hares after a good ball from Yates, in behind the full-back. But his attempted cross for Wood in the middle is poor and easily cut out.
It’s a bit of a fidgety affair so far. Neither team has settled.
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7 min: Son tees up Maddison, who has a sight of goal from inside the area. The former Leicester man cracks a shot that is half-blocked, away from danger, by a Forest defender.
5 min: Forest briefly threaten on the counter but Vicario, the Tottenham goalie, advances out of his area to deal with the danger. On balance, Spurs are controlling the early stages, but they have not created a clear chance. Those Forest bodies are massed in a line around the edge of their penalty area.
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3 min: Sub-plots aplenty today. Nuno Espírito Santo is back at Spurs for the first time since being sacked. While Brennan Johnson lines up against his former club.
2 min: Spurs win a corner. Bissouma crashes a shot high over the crossbar from outside the area. Ambitious, but it was a powerful strike at least.
1 min: Some early ball for the hosts. Forest, on their opponents’ first possession, appear to be operating with a back six. Nuno setting up simply not to get beaten?
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First half kick-off!
Here we go.
The teams are out! Another football match is happening imminently.
The aim for Forest after a brilliant display against Fulham?
“To repeat it,” says Nuno, smiling. “It’s a major challenge and we know how hard that is … we need points, definitely.”
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Postecoglou: “It’s a tough opponent. We’ve got to play well … Their biggest threat is that they are fighting for their lives. There’s no easy games for anyone. Everyone’s fighting for something.
“They have got threats up front … but ultimately we’re here at home – we’ve got really good form and we need to continue that.”
A game brought forward by 24 hours due to rail and underground strikes is one that could see Nottingham Forest strengthen their survival hopes. Certainly, Nuno Espírito Santo’s men should arrive in north London in confident mood after a stirring midweek victory over Fulham. Forest were 3-0 up before half-time on the back of a display brimming with intensity and quality and, in general, appear galvanised by the four-point deduction they received last month for breaching profitability and sustainability rules. That makes them potentially dangerous opponents for every team they’re going to face between now and the end of the season, and Spurs could be especially ripe for the taking given the openness with which they defend, allied to how often they fall behind at home. Their opponents on Sunday should believe they can take the lead and, unlike Palace and Luton, build on that. That will not be easy, however, against a team that scores plenty of goals, with the presence of Brennan Johnson in the home ranks adding a tantalising narrative.
Micky van de Ven’s father, Marcel, is well known in their native Netherlands for being one of the lead detectives on Hunted, the TV series in which the hunters (ie Marcel and his team) track down contestants who have gone on the run. Marcel got the gig for a reason. Previously, he had worked as an undercover agent for a unit based at a secret location that tackled the most notorious criminals in the country.
Kobbie Mainoo scored a lovely one in the draw with Manchester United.
Absolute CLASS from Kobbie Mainoo 🪄 pic.twitter.com/iIADHPFIYX
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 7, 2024
Decent hit from Ian Woan back in nineteen hundred and ninety-something.
Reminiscent of Kevin De Bruyne’s hit at Palace yesterday, which was similarly right in the top corner … albeit from open play and from the other side of the pitch. Basically a carbon copy.
It’s 27 years to the day since Ian Woan scored this sensational free kick against Spurs in the FA Cup.
— Stu’s Football Flashbacks (@stusfootyflash) February 28, 2023
One of the sweetest left pegs in the business.pic.twitter.com/1hez2zj1OI
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There is one change for Spurs today, with Pape Sarr coming into the starting lineup in place of Rodrigo Bentancur.
Forest are unchanged from the heartening midweek win against Fulham when Morgan Gibbs-White, in particular, continued his tremendous recent form.
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And that’s a final score from Old Trafford: Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool.
The title race was already open, but it’s been blown even opener.
Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool is a latest score in the closing moments at Old Trafford …
Teams
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bissouma, Sarr, Johnson, Maddison, Werner, Son. Substitutes: Hojbjerg, Dragusin, Emerson, Lo Celso, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Davies, Austin, Scarlett.
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Sels, Williams, Omobamidele, Murillo, Aina, Yates, Danilo, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Wood. Substitutes: Turner, Sangare, Toffolo, Dominguez, Niakhate, Reyna, Origi, Montiel, Duarte Ribeiro.
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire)
Up the Spurs! 🤍 pic.twitter.com/hyg2UwMzwX
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 7, 2024
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Preamble
They say the best things in life are free. The Tottenham manager, Ange Postecoglou, became exasperated in his press conference on Friday when quizzed on the pressure to qualify for the Champions League and generate that sweet Uefa cash.
“It comes down to good coaching, good decision making, good players,” Postecoglou said. “When you fall into the trap of thinking money is the answer, you don’t get the outcome.”
Notably that did not really chime with what Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman, had said two days earlier: that “consistent European participation” is key in order to invest in the squad. Levy is in talks with investors after the club recorded an £86.8m loss.
But as Postcoglou added on Friday, football clubs are not banks, and thankfully we’ve got some football to enjoy this evening. This is despite the tragic news that a man was stabbed to death close to Tottenham’s stadium in the early hours of this morning. A police investigation is under way but the match against Nottingham Forest goes ahead as planned.
Kick-off: 6pm BST
Update 🚨
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 7, 2024
Following an incident in which an individual has lost their life, we are doing everything to accommodate the ongoing Police investigation, which is of the utmost importance.
This afternoon's Premier League fixture against Nottingham Forest will go-ahead as scheduled,…
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