Nottingham Forest made it four consecutive Premier League victories, beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at the City Ground on Boxing Day.
Looking to continue the momentum from Forest’s win over Brentford, Nuno Espirito Santo retained his attacking stars to tremendous effect to move up to third in the Premier League table.
Ange Postecogolou praised Espirito Santo for his impact at Forest after the Portuguese manager struggled at Spurs, praise that was warranted given how Espirito Santo’s side performed in the first half.
A driving run from Morgan Gibbs-White saw him play Anthony Elanga through perfectly, giving the Swedish winger the simple task of slotting past Fraser Forster.
The second half was a chance for Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic to show just how impressive the Forest defence is this season, clearing and blocking everything that Spurs threw at them to secure yet another win at the City Ground.
Matz Sels – 9
Made a brilliant save to deny Brennan Johnson at the end of the first half to keep Forest in the lead.
Ola Aina – 7
Aina handled the task of marking Heung-Min Son without too many concerns, seeing the Korean star into danger-free areas for the most part. He did struggle going forward, though, miss-hitting a presentable volley in the box to give Forest a second goal.
Nikola Milenkovic – 9
The type of defensive display that Forest fans will be used to seeing from their summer signing. Milenkovic dominated his duels against Dominic Solanke and the Spurs attack.
Murillo – 9
Another strong performance for the Brazilian against a free-flowing Spurs attack. His partnership with Milenkovic was imperious enough to prevent the strongest attack in the league from a clear cut chance in the second half.
Neco Williams – 7
Defended well against Brennan Johnson who persisted down Spurs’ right, winning 8 duels against the former Forest man.
Ryan Yates – 6
Picking up a yellow card after ten minutes certainly hindered Yates’ impact on the game. He won a fair share of duels in midfield but perhaps lacked his usual bite.
Elliot Anderson – 7
Anderson was competitive in the Forest midfield, especially after Yates suffered his early booking. He also played six passes into the Forest final third, helping his side attack with pace.
Anthony Elanga – 7
His pace was always going to be a problem for Spurs which showed as he scored Forest’s opening goal. Elanga struggled to create anything to help Forest add to their lead, but his goal was enough to secure the three points.
Morgan Gibbs-White – 9
Forest’s key strength of counterattacks was facilitated by the creative prowess of Gibbs-White. His slipped pass found Elanga for the opener, one of many threatening attacks that came from his passing ability.
Callum Hudson-Odoi – 7
Without a goal to his name, Hudson-Odoi was equally as impressive as Elanga, driving at his fullback and providing brilliant pace on the break.
Chris Wood – 5
Like the Brentford game, Wood was outshone by his Forest support act in the attack. Whilst he didn’t have a clear opportunity on goal, Wood was caught offside on three occasions which didn’t help his chances.
Substitutes
Morato – 6
Slotted into the same system that worked so fruitfully for Forest against Brentford and didn’t look out of place while not being tasked with anything spectacular.
James Ward-Prowse – 6
Slotted adeptly into the Forest midfield that sat strongly in front of their defence to secure the clean sheet.
Jota Silva – 5
Replaced Gibbs-White but only managed a single touch, also committed a dangerous foul that gave Spurs a late chance from a free-kick.
Ramon Sosa – 6
Just like Jota Silva, Sosa had very few touches as Spurs dominated possession in the final few minutes.
Taiwo Awoniyi – 7
Of the attacking substitutes, Awoniyi was most impressive as he produced a powerful run through the heart of Spurs’ defence but couldn’t get a shot away.
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