Nottingham Forest climbed back into the Champions League places with a hard-fought 2-1 win over struggling Tottenham Hotspur, withstanding a late barrage of pressure and an 86th-minute goal to move back up to third.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have been the Premier League’s surprise package in this campaign but have had their chances of a top-five finish imperilled by consecutive league defeats.
But they got their campaign back on track courtesy of an early double, with midfielder Elliot Anderson scoring just his second Premier League goal of the season in the opening five minutes, before Chris Wood ended a seven-game scoring drought with a thumping header 12 minutes later.
And it was back down to earth for Spurs after their Europa League quarter-final heroics against Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek.
Richarlison’s header late in the second half denied Forest keeper Matz Sels a 14th clean sheet of the season, but wasn’t enough to improve their standing in the top flight as they sank to a record eighth home loss of the season and remain 16th.
Follow all of the latest from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with our live blog below:
‘Big week ahead of us’ – Nuno
“Matz has been huge for us all season,” Nuno continues. “He kept us in the game so we are delighted.
“Our fans have been fantastic for us. Today they gave us an extra run, not only here but also at the City Ground. We cannot thank them enough.
“We have a big week ahead of us. We have to prepare well then go to Wembley and enjoy.
“You don’t get these moments often, especially in this league when we are fighting for something nobody expected.”
‘We were fortunate to get away with the result’ – Nuno
Nuno Espirito Santo explains his tactics on Sky Sports: “There is no other way. Tottenham put us against the ropes so it is about defending and holding on to the result.
“We started the game well. We created danger with good combinations. We wanted to go more offensive in the second half, try to be more dangerous and have more of the ball.
“When you have something it is about getting through it, especially in these moments of the season when there is fatigue, not only physical but mental, anxiety, all these things made the team go back a bit. Credit to Tottenham. They created so many chances against us and we were fortunate to get away with the result.
“We were controlling the game but Tottenham were having lots of crosses and space in the wide areas, so it [half time change] was about having an extra man and squeezing a bit more. You have one less man to press in midfield but you then have one more in the box.”
Focus shifts to Europe
Wary of Tottenham’s much-publicised injury issues this season, Postecoglou says that several of his changes were planned with one eye on their Europa League semi-final against Bodo/Glimt.
“It was pre-planned for van de Ven and Romero to play 45 minutes and the same with Kulusevski and Odobert who have not played in quite a while,” he says.
“Everyone got through it okay, I guess. That is one thing but we want to maintain momentum but we missed that opportunity.
“It is a bit of a balancing act. We have got to be ready for Thursday week, that is the big game for us. We have to have all of our players healthy and in good condition.”
‘We didn’t deserve to lose on the balance of play’ – Postecoglou
“I still think we didn’t deserve to lose on the balance of play,” the Spurs manager adds.
“We have to accept the fact we haven’t been at the level we should be. I don’t like losing, we’ve lost too many games. We’ve got to keep working and try and rectify these things so the football we play gets the results it deserves.”
He adds that facing league leaders Liverpool at the weekend will be “another good test”.
“If we play like we did today but keep our concentration levels where they should be then we can give them a game. We still need to rectify a couple of things.”
‘It’s a game we should never lose’ – Postecoglou
“It’s disappointing,” a frustrated Ange Postecoglou tells Sky Sports. “It’s a game we should never lose. One we have let slip. I’m really disappointed with the goals we conceded.
“The most frustrating thing outside of that is our football was outstanding. We couldn’t have dominated any more than we did.
“We’ve seen this all year. We have just conceded poor goals and given ourselves a mountain to climb. It is not about mistakes being repeated but not having that concentration and focus for the whole game.
“We had a focus on Thursday night [against Eintracht Frankfurt] that we didn’t seem to have at the beginning of the game and then after we conceded we knuckled down and started playing our football.
“You can’t give teams two goal starts. There’s too many games this year that we have lost in that manner and that is why we are in the position that we are.”
‘We want to give everything’ to secure Champions League football – Sels
“With 66 points you are normally quite sure to finish in the top five but this season it might be a little bit more because all the teams around us keep winning. There’s five games to go and we know what we need to do,” the keeper continues.
“We will see where we can end up but we already played an amazing season. We can be proud of what we did up until now but we want to give everything to finish there in the top five.”
“Even last year when I came here it was almost the same team, so already we had a lot of quality. In the Premier League there are no easy games. We started the season well and the victory at Liverpool gave us a lot of confidence and the belief came bit by bit.”
Sels on the half-time tactical change
“When the coach brought in Morato at half time we knew that we would defend quite a lot in the second half because our speed was away with Elanga.
“The gaffer did well to bring in Callum [Hudson-Odoi] and we tried to create on the counter. We did not create a lot but we defended well.”
‘It was important to bounce back’ – Matz Sels
Visiting keeper Matz Sels had another strong game and offers his two cents on Sky Sports.
“We knew that after the two losses in the last two games it was important to bounce back,” the Belgian says. “And we are really happy with the three points today and to be back where we have been the whole season.
“Tottenham are a strong team that put you under a lot of pressure and we knew that they would play a lot down the sides, so the coach changed tactics at half time to try to not let the crosses come in any more.
“But you saw the statistics. It was not easy for us but we defended well and did not give a lot of chances away.”
‘We really needed that’ – Elliot Anderson
“They were causing us quite a lot of problems in the first half,” Anderson continues.
“We went to a back five [at half time] and that helped us deal with them a little bit. Matz [Sels] was terrific again today, so I’m buzzing for him.
“We really needed that after two defeats. We have come back and bounced back so it is huge for us. We’ve got to keep believing until the last game. We will be pushing.”
Nottingham Forest ‘buzzing’ – Elliot Anderson
Forest goalscorer Elliot Anderson speaks on Sky Sports: “The result was massive for us. It was a huge game to come into to try to get three points.
“The lads dug in and we showed what we are about and we’re buzzing.
“We are hard to beat, that is what we built our foundations on. Strong at the back and we have good attackers.”
He admits Forest were “a little bit” surprised at how quickly they got on the scoresheet. “We started brightly and we got two chances and were clinical.”
Source: independent.co.uk
