Nottingham Forest outclass relegation rivals Tottenham to steer clear of drop

[p]A pre-game rallying cry from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/romero-cristian/jBZTWXMn/"]Cristian Romero[/a] did little to get [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tottenham/UDg08Ohm/"]Spurs[/a] on the front foot in the early stages of this seismic clash, as it was [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nottingham/UsushcZr/"]Forest[/a] who settled quickest.[/p][p]It didn’t take too long for the pendulum to swing in Tottenham’s favour, and they manufactured the game’s first real opportunity when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tel-mathys/drANB1N8/"]Mathys Tel[/a]’s corner was met by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/richarlison/K82Dz773/"]Richarlison[/a], whose header flashed across the face of goal and behind.[/p][p]The hosts came even closer moments later, albeit with a huge stroke of fortune, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/igor-jesus/zPQTw5fe/"]Igor Jesus[/a] headed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/danso-kevin/z1MBQMNN/"]Kevin Danso[/a]’s long throw against his own post. [/p][p]Spurs kept up the pressure for the majority of the first half, yet in a game that had an air of must-not-lose rather than must-win, chances were at a premium.[/p][p]That was a quest that went up in smoke on the stroke of half-time, though, when Forest hit Spurs with a sucker punch.[/p][p][b]There was an element of simplicity about how Jesus opened the scoring, climbing highest at the far post to head [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-neco/YVxu86Hs/"]Neco Williams[/a]’ corner back across goal and into the far corner, leaving Spurs boss [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tudor-igor/Qu12kvXf/"]Igor Tudor[/a] plenty to ponder at half-time.[/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="e5eb57e1-0610-4c8a-a75f-afd2b727eb32" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="6ba5a2a3-200f-49ce-8f5e-b1c987110bcf" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Provider almost turned scorer within 10 minutes of the restart when Williams was left in acres of space at the far post to meet [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/anderson-elliott/KdYCbsbE/"]Elliot Anderson[/a]’s delivery, but his header was powered straight at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vicario-guglielmo/0fdL3XXa/"]Guglielmo Vicario[/a].[/p][p]Nerves were certainly growing inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and those soon turned to despair when the hosts found themselves two goals behind.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hudson-odoi-callum/dtU5eexQ/"]Callum Hudson-Odoi[/a] did the heavy lifting in the build-up, dancing his way to the byline before cutting the ball back for one-time Tottenham target [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gibbs-white-morgan/beZNT1bB/"]Morgan Gibbs-White[/a] to sweep home from six yards. [/b][/p][p]Spurs never overly threatened to get back into the game, with a stinging volley from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sarr-pape/CSjTl5sR/"]Pape Matar Sarr[/a], which was well blocked by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sangare-ibrahim/0zOKXsla/"]Ibrahim Sangare[/a], about as close as they came to salvaging a crumb of pride.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/west-ham/Cxq57r8g/"]West Ham United[/a] losing against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Aston Villa[/a] at least spared Tudor’s men the ignominy of dropping into the bottom three today, but Forest adding a third in the dying moments through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/awoniyi-taiwo/OWFf8WFm/"]Taiwo Awoniyi[/a], who turned home Williams’ delivery, prompted a mass exodus and a chorus of boos at full-time, making it increasingly difficult to see how Tudor survives this defeat.[/b][/p][image alt="Momentum" id="adbe0e6a-474f-4136-9cc0-89b38e7afe20" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="6e3845fe-f064-42d8-8099-f1f028cd881e" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-neco/YVxu86Hs/"]Neco Williams[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nottingham/UsushcZr/"]Nottingham Forest[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/nottingham-UsushcZr/tottenham-UDg08Ohm/?mid=n5KMyNNi"]Get all the match stats here with Flashscore[/a][/b][/p]