Nottingham Forest boosted their Champions League hopes as an impressive victory against Tottenham moved them back up to third in the Premier League.
The visitors started the day sixth but were in a determined mood from the outset at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to get the result that would see them climb back up the table.
They took just five minutes to open the scoring when Elliot Anderson’s thunderous volley deflected off Rodrigo Bentancur to fly into the back of the net.
Spurs’ poor league form this term has been well documented and despite winning at Eintracht Frankfurt last Thursday to reach the Europa League semi-finals, they failed to carry that momentum into this game.
They saw plenty of the ball and got into good positions but were not threatening enough and instead Nottingham added a second in the 16th minute when Chris Wood nodded in from Anthony Elanga’s delivery.
Wood has been instrumental to Forest’s impressive form this season with this strike his 19th in the Premier League this season.
Mathys Tel lashed wide when unmarked towards the end of the first half, while Richarlison – making his first Tottenham start since February – headed over from close range.
Harry Toffolo made a crucial goalline clearance to hook away Dejan Kulusevski’s effort midway through the second half, before Matz Sels produced an excellent save to deny Richarlison late on.
Spurs came alive in the final minutes and got a goal back with three minutes remaining when Richarlison finally beat Sels with a header.
But Nottingham held their nerve to seal a victory and edge closer towards securing European football next season.
