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Check out Jamie Jackson’s match report from Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool:
Half-time! Tottenham 1-1 Nottingham Forest
A bit of an odd game, all told, but what do you expect at 6pm on a Sunday?
45 min +3: Forest win a free-kick in an advanced area. Gibbs-White hits a classy ball with the outside of his boot for Elanga to chase to the byline. The resulting cross is patted out by Vicario for a corner … but Spurs hold firm to end the first half.
44 min: Maddison and Yates clash off the ball in the Forest penalty area with the hosts on the attack. Yates goes down. He appears to ask the referee to check VAR, which as Bill Leslie says on commentary, is technically a bookable offence. And he’s already gone in the book. Anyway, there is no action by the VAR, and no action by the referee, and Yates smiles as he talks it over with Maddison and the referee, and then they all get on with the game.
41 min: Werner tries to run it out from the back. He turns back and passes to a teammate who is fouled by Wood. Forest look much more purposeful, with and without the ball, than they did early doors.
40 min: Bissouma tries to put his foot on it in midfield, but falls over and gifts possession to Forest. Thus, Tottenham’s last 15 minutes or so in this match is summed up. They were right on top, but now Forest are the better side.
37 min: Postecoglou, the Tottenham manager, is a visibly concerned figure on the sidelines. Now Elanga runs at Spurs and shoots low, but straight at Vicario, who saves easily.
34 min: Woods hits the post for Forest from about two and a half yards! Aina escapes down the Forest left, runs into the area, and squares into space around the penalty spot. Yates slides in to sidefoot an effort which is going to nestle in the bottom corner but is well saved by a diving Vicario. Wood then has what looks a straightforward task to follow up and score, but he hammers a shot against the post! Surely he should have just lifted that gently rather than belt it.
33 min: Forest have a corner. It’s repelled once by Spurs, and Hudson-Odoi nearly slips with Son challenging him … but he keeps his feet, and Forest come again.
31 min: Son feeds Werner, in space again down the left yet again. Teammates are waiting in the middle, and the German tries a first-time cross which comes off the top of his boot and flies over the bar. The fans howl.
The Forest equaliser is about the pace of Elanga and a couple of simple passes. He links with Gibbs-White down the Forest right, a simple one-two with his teammate, and the Tottenham defence appears to fall asleep for a crucial moment. Elanga crosses for Wood, who thrashes a low finish into the far corner past Vicario from close range.
A weirdly easy goal for Forest to score and a soft one for Spurs to concede.
Goal! 27 min: Tottenham 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Wood)
Level!
23 min: Nearly 2-0, and nearly created by Werner again – he stands Williams up and then bursts beyond the defender with impressive skill and pace. The German forward clips a low cross in for Son from the Tottenham left. Son is at point-blank range in front of goal and sidefoots a first-time shot which is brilliantly saved by Sels in nets.
This is where Werner can be so dangerous: he is full of pace and is a willing runner.
22 min: Porro finds Son, who is challenged by Yates in the area. The South Korean goes down and wants a penalty but Simon Hooper is unmoved.
20 min: The game has settled now but not into a shape that will please Forest fans. They have a bank of five, then three defenders stationed around the edge of their penalty area. Nuno’s side badly need to improve their possession and territory stats if they are going to get anything this evening.
17 min: Bissouma has yet another shot from 20 odd yards.
That opening goal, meanwhile, has lifted Spurs into fourth in the live table.
Werner is released down the left by Son. He advances into the penalty area and quickly squares into the danger zone, where Murillo is tracking back and tries to block the cross, but can only turn the ball into the net. There is a VAR check for offside against Werner but the goal is soon confirmed. Tottenham lead and Forest need to have a think about their defensive gameplan.
Goal! 15 min: Tottenham 1-0 Nottingham Forest (Murillo OG)
Spurs lead!
13 min: Maddison turns Yates in midfield, watching a ball past his left shoulder and hoping to run on to it. Yates is caught on the wrong side and chooses to cynically block the Spurs man. He is booked. And he’ll need to be careful.
12 min: Bissouma has another shot which is deflected over. Forest really are sitting deep, looking to soak up the pressure and hit on the break. Or just try and score from about 75 yards, a la Murillo.
10 min: Blimey! Murillo of Forest has the ball on the Forest left, about halfway inside the visitors’ own half. He looks ahead for options and spots that Vicario off his line, about half a mile away, and drills a frankly mad attempt on goal which very nearly bounces into the top corner. Vicario is scrambling back desperately but is beaten, and must be relieved – to say the least – to see the ball bounce just wide of the empty goal.
8 min: Space opens up for Forest down their right. Elanga hares after a good ball from Yates, in behind the full-back. But his attempted cross for Wood in the middle is poor and easily cut out.
Bit of a fidgety affair so far. Neither team has settled.
7 min: Son tees up Maddison, who has a sight of goal from inside the area. The former Leicester man cracks a shot that is half-blocked, away from danger, by a Forest defender.
5 min: Forest briefly threaten on the counter but Vicario, the Tottenham goalie, advances out of his area to deal with the danger. On balance, Spurs are controlling the early stages, but they have not created a clear chance yet. Those Forest bodies are massed in a line around the edge of their penalty area.
3 min: Sub-plots aplenty today. Nuno Espírito Santo is back at Spurs for the first time since being sacked. While Brennan Johnson lines up against his former club.
2 min: Spurs win a corner. Bissouma crashes a shot high over the crossbar from outside the area. Ambitious, but it was a powerful strike at least.
1 min: Some early possession for the hosts. Forest, on their opponents’ first possession, appear to be operating with a back six. Nuno setting up simply not to get beaten?
First half kick-off!
Here we go.
The teams are out! Another football match is happening imminently.
The aim for Forest after a brilliant display against Fulham?
“To repeat it,” says Nuno, smiling. “It’s a major challenge – we know how hard that is … we need points, definitely.”
Postecoglou: “It’s a tough opponent. We’ve got to play well … Their biggest threat is that they are fighting for their lives. There’s no easy games for anyone. Everyone’s fighting for something.
“They have got threats up front … but ultimately we’re here at home – we’ve got really good form and we need to continue that.”
Sachin Nakrani
A game brought forward by 24 hours due to rail and underground strikes is one that could see Nottingham Forest strengthen their survival hopes. Certainly, Nuno Espírito Santo’s men should arrive in north London in confident mood after a stirring midweek victory over Fulham. Forest were 3-0 up before half-time on the back of a display brimming with intensity and quality and, in general, appear galvanised by the four-point deduction they received last month for breaching profitability and sustainability rules. That makes them potentially dangerous opponents for every team they’re going to face between now and the end of the season, and Spurs could be especially ripe for the taking given the openness with which they defend, allied to how often they fall behind at home. Their opponents on Sunday should believe they can take the lead and, unlike Palace and Luton, build on that. That will not be easy, however, against a team that scores plenty of goals, with the presence of Brennan Johnson in the home ranks adding a tantalising narrative.
David Hytner
Micky van de Ven’s father, Marcel, is well known in their native Netherlands for being one of the lead detectives on Hunted, the TV series in which the hunters (ie Marcel and his team) track down contestants who have gone on the run. Marcel got the gig for a reason. Previously, he had worked as an undercover agent for a unit based at a secret location that tackled the most notorious criminals in the country.
Kobbie Mainoo scored a lovely one in the draw with Manchester United.
Decent hit from Ian Woan back in nineteen hundred and ninety-something.
Reminiscent of Kevin De Bruyne’s hit at Palace yesterday, which was similarly right in the top corner … albeit from open play and from the other side of the pitch. Basically a carbon copy.
It’s 27 years to the day since Ian Woan scored this sensational free kick against Spurs in the FA Cup.
One of the sweetest left pegs in the business.pic.twitter.com/1hez2zj1OI
— Stu’s Football Flashbacks (@stusfootyflash) February 28, 2023
There is one change for Spurs today, with Sarr coming into the starting lineup in place of Bentancur.
Forest are unchanged from the heartening midweek win against Fulham when Morgan Gibbs-White, in particular, continued his tremendous recent form.
And that’s a final score from Old Trafford: Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool.
The title race was already open, but it’s been blown even opener.
Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool is a latest score in the closing moments at Old Trafford …
Teams
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bissouma, Sarr, Johnson, Maddison, Werner, Son. Substitutes: Hojbjerg, Dragusin, Emerson, Lo Celso, Kulusevski, Bentancur, Davies, Austin, Scarlett.
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Sels, Williams, Omobamidele, Murillo, Aina, Yates, Danilo, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Wood. Substitutes: Turner, Sangare, Toffolo, Dominguez, Niakhate, Reyna, Origi, Montiel, Duarte Ribeiro.
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire)
Preamble
They say the best things in life are free. The Tottenham manager, Ange Postecoglou, became exasperated in his press conference on Friday when quizzed on the pressure to qualify for the Champions League and generate that sweet Uefa cash.
“It comes down to good coaching, good decision making, good players,” Postecoglou said. “When you fall into the trap of thinking money is the answer, you don’t get the outcome.”
Notably that did not really chime with what Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman, had said two days earlier: that “consistent European participation” is key for the club to invest in the squad. Levy is in talks with investors after the club recorded an £86.8m loss.
But as Postcoglou said on Friday, football clubs are not banks, and thankfully we’ve got some football to enjoy this evening. This is despite the tragic news that a man was stabbed to death close to Tottenham’s stadium in the early hours of this morning. A police investigation is under way but the match against Nottingham Forest goes ahead as planned.
Kick-off: 6pm BST
Update 🚨
Following an incident in which an individual has lost their life, we are doing everything to accommodate the ongoing Police investigation, which is of the utmost importance.
This afternoon’s Premier League fixture against Nottingham Forest will go-ahead as scheduled,…
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 7, 2024
