Tottenham 3-1 Nottingham Forest: Player ratings as Spurs climb back into top four

FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM - Tottenham moved back into the Premier League's top four with a 3-1 win at home to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

Ange Postecoglou's side again produced a second-half rally to ensure they took all three points, taking their total to 60 after 31 games - as many as they managed in all of last season.

Nuno Espirito Santo's first return to Spurs since his 2021 sacking proved an unhappy one even if his Forest side put up a spirited fight.

How the game unfolded

After Bruno Fernandes had scored from around 50 yards in Manchester United's 2-2 draw with Liverpool earlier in the day, Forest defender Murillo tried his luck from even further back inside the opening ten minutes, with his speculative effort bouncing just wide of Guglielmo Vicario's vacant net.

Tottenham took the lead after a slick move on 15 minutes, which ended with Son Heung-min switching play to the left to Timo Werner, whose low cross was diverted in off the toe of Murillo.

That early opener kicked Spurs into gear and they went close to adding a second soon after when Yves Bissouma flashed a shot wide of Matz Sels' goal.

The hosts' search for a second continued with Werner crossing for former Forest star Brennan Johnson, whose close-range shot was well saved by Sels.

But Forest found an equaliser with their first meaningful attack. Anthony Elanga combined with Neco Williams on the overlap down the right flank, and the Swede's cutback was swept in by Chris Wood.

The visitors should have gone in front just after the half-hour mark. Ryan Yates forced a fine low save out of Vicario from the edge of the box, and Wood's rebound from a few yards out cannoned back off the post.

Postecoglou brought on Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for the start of the second half, and the latter nearly made an immediate impact, forcing a flying save out of Sels having been left unmarked on the edge of the box from a corner.

Minutes later, Spurs went back in front. Another short corner was eventually worked to Son, who laid it back for Micky Van de Ven to lash into the top corner from 18 yards.

Soon after, Tottenham added a third. James Maddison did excellently to skip away from the trailing legs of Neco Williams and burst down the left, with his cross nodded down by Bentancur and into the path of Pedro Porro, who unleashed a fierce half-volley past Sels.

With just over five minutes remaining, Sels denied Son a customary goal with a low save, pushing the ball inches wide, but that was as close as a manic game came to a late fifth goal.

Tottenham player ratings (4-2-3-1)

GK: Guglielmo Vicario - 6/10 - Came up with a phenomenal stop to deny Yates in the first half and spread his body well to distract Wood when he hit the rebound off the post.

RB: Pedro Porro - 7/10 - Has improved defensively this year but didn't show much of those instincts here. Made amends for a shaky first half with a scintillating strike in the second.

CB: Cristian Romero - 5/10 - Got lucky on a few occasions when trying to play out from the back.

CB: Micky van de Ven - 9/10 - Oh how Spurs needed both the Dutchman's blistering recovery pace and his utterly ferocious go-ahead goal today. An obscenely gifted athlete.

LB: Destiny Udogie - 5/10 - Lapses in concentration proved costly at the back, though did always provide another thrusting outlet when Tottenham had possession.

CM: Pape Matar Sarr - 5/10 - Brought his usual energy but lacked quality when in possession. Withdrawn at the break.

CM: Yves Bissouma - 5/10 - Pushed up into the final third with refreshing endeavour but his defensive instincts left much to be desired, notably failing to track back for Wood's equaliser. Similarly hooked at half-time.

RW: Brennan Johnson - 5/10 - Been in red-hot form of late but didn't have a lot of luck trying to break his former side down, running into dead ends fairly frequently.

AM: James Maddison - 6/10 - Let Yates rattle him a little bit in a frustrating first half. Much improved after the break, coming up with the cross which led to Porro's goal.

LW: Timo Werner - 8/10 - Had Williams on toast for much of the evening, sauntering past him with ease. Produced the cross which led to Murillo's own goal.

CF: Son Heung-min - 6/10 - Dampened in the first half and was forced to come deep throughout, though this dragged attention away from his teammates and opened up gaps for his teammates to exploit.

Substitutes

SUB: Rodrigo Bentancur (46' for Sarr) - 7/10 - Took more care with the ball in midfield and was also potent in more dangerous areas.

SUB: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (46' for Bissouma) - 6/10 - Brought defensive intensity which Bissouma lacked though was caught in possession a couple of times much to the ire of home fans.

SUB: Dejan Kulusevski (76' for Maddison) - 6/10

SUB: Giovani Lo Celso (76' for Werner) - 6/10

SUB: Dane Scarlett (89' for Johnson) - N/A

Subs not used: Brandon Austin (GK), Emerson Royal, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies

Manager

Ange Postecoglou - 7/10 - Defensive fragilities had Spurs wobbling again but the Greek-Australian is making a habit of winning games with the help of his bench.

Nottingham Forest player ratings (4-2-3-1)

GK: Matz Sels - 6/10 - Did all he humanly could to keep the score down, with his first-half save to deny Johnson giving Forest the platform to soon equalise.

RB: Neco Williams - 5/10 - A useful outlet on the overlap but was far too easily skinned by Werner going the other way.

CB: Andrew Omobamidele - 6/10 - Maintained his discipline but Tottenham's pressure told on he and his teammates eventually.

CB: Murillo - 6/10 - There isn't any good reason why a centre-back should be as technically gifted as the 21-year-old Brazilian is. Slightly unfortunate with the own goal.

LB: Ola Aina - 6/10 - Wriggled his way out of tight situations to help Forest beat the press. Made Johnson work for every inch.

CM: Ryan Yates - 5/10 - Had an ongoing back-and-forth with Maddison having fouled him several times early on. Didn't bring a lot else to the battle.

CM: Danilo - 5/10 - Wasn't as noticeable as Yates though that's probably because he wasn't racking up cynical fouls.

RW: Anthony Elanga - 7/10 - Took advantage of Udogie's uncertainty down his flank, leading to Forest's equaliser.

AM: Morgan Gibbs-White - 6/10 - Troubled Tottenham with a series of flicks and switches but Forest didn't see enough of the ball for him to be as much of a direct threat.

LW: Callum Hudson-Odoi - 6/10 - Carried the ball well enough even if it was rarely in positions of real danger for Tottenham.

CF: Chris Wood - 8/10 - Feed the Forest's Wood and he will score. Spurs found it hard to stop him from being a nuisance.

Substitutes

SUB: Nicolas Dominguez (68' for Gibbs-White) - 5/10

SUB: Divock Origi (68' for Wood) - 5/10

SUB: Ibrahim Sangare (80' for Yates) - 5/10

SUB: Giovanni Reyna (80' for Danilo) - 5/10

SUB: Gonzalo Montiel (87' for Williams) - N/A

Subs not used: Matt Turner (GK), Harry Toffolo, Moussa Niakhate, Rodrigo Ribeiro

Manager

Nuno Espirito Santo - 6/10 - Made a decent account of himself on his return to Tottenham, but the individual quality between the two sides proved significant.

Player of the match - Micky van de Ven (Tottenham)

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