Moments you may have missed: Spurs 3-1 Nottingham Forest
Tue 14 March 2023, 11:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
Back to winning ways in the Premier League, Saturday’s comfortable 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest was packed with striking moments.
Having endured a tough eight days as we exited both the FA Cup and the Champions League, as well as suffering a 1-0 defeat away at Wolves, the victory over Forest was much welcomed as a Harry Kane double and a Heung-Min Son strike sealed us all three points at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
But, with this game being played out at 3pm on a Saturday, it is quite possible that many of the game’s more understated might have gone unnoticed…
Full 90: Spurs 3-1 Nottingham Forest
1 – Davies’ determining desire
Ben Davies has always shown his commitment to the lilywhite cause during his time at the Club - and it was that attitude that proved critical to us taking the lead against Nottingham Forest.
Having been frustrated by the visitors in the early stages, including seeing a Richarlison effort ruled out for offside, we finally broke the deadlock in N17 with 17 minutes on the clock as Harry Kane headed home. It was an expertly dispatched header from our number 10, but the move could have perhaps fizzled out without Ben’s devotion to the cause.
As no Spurs player was in a position to take down Richarlison’s clipped cross, our Welsh defender quickly changed his run, sprinting away from his marker and the goal to dive towards the ball and keep it alive. His touch sent the ball into the path of Pedro Porro, who controlled it before clipping the ball towards Harry, and he did the rest, pulling away from his marker to head home.
Watch - Davies' role in Kane's opener
2 – Serge returns
Having departed our doors just over 18 months ago, Serge Aurier made his return to north London on Saturday. Now a Nottingham Forest player, Serge became a Spurs player back in the summer of 2017 as he moved from Paris Saint Germain and went on to make over 100 appearances for us before departing for Villarreal in the summer of 2021.
A well-liked member of our squad during that period, Serge was given a warm welcome by his former team-mates and backroom staff, as well as Spurs fans, who applauded as his name was read aloud by our stadium announcer. One player who was particularly close to Serge during his Spurs days was Heung-Min Son, and their good relationship was made clear midway through the first half as, when Sonny prepared to take a thrown in down the left-hand side, he playfully bounced the ball on the head of his Ivorian friend.
Watch - Sonny and Serge reunited
3 – Another Romero nutmeg
Cristian Romero is picking up quite the habit of producing a nutmeg in our matches – and he added another one to his collection against Forest. Over the past few months, Cristian has been spotted successfully completing nutmegs against a number of our Premier League opponents, most notably Willian of Fulham and Kai Havertz of Chelsea.
On Saturday, he added another. This time it was against the Reds’ Emmanuel Dennis who, as he moved to close down our Argentine defender, Cuti bided his time before rolling the ball through Dennis’ legs and onto Pedro Porro.
Watch - Romero's nutmeg versus Forest
4 – Forster denies Aurier
As he made his return to north London, Serge almost made it the perfect return – in his eyes at least – as he nearly got on the scoresheet in north London.
With us sitting comfortable in the match, 3-0 up, it was Forest that were on the front foot as they looked to get a consolation goal. They would ultimately find that on 81 minutes as Joe Worrall headed home from a corner but they will have felt they should have been on the board five minutes earlier when the Ivorian defender also had an opportunity from a corner.
As the set-piece was whipped into the near post in from the left, Serge leapt and connected with his head, sending an effort arrowing towards the top left-hand corner. But, as good as his header was, it was not going to beat our number 20, who reacted with incredible speed to get his big right palm to it and tip it over the bar.
Watch - Forster's stunning save
5 – Pedro’s clever play
When the opposition are enjoying a spell of pressure in the game, you are always in need of a player that is able to find a way to beat the press – and that is just what Pedro Porro did for us as Nottingham Forest knocked on the door in the late stages of Saturday’s game.
With us sitting comfortably at three goals to the good, Forest took up a period of possession in the game which saw them begin to ask our defence some questions, which included that effort from Serge Aurier. That chance came as the visitors began to send a significant number of crosses into our box with them getting closer and closer to registering. We were in need of some breathing space and Pedro was the man to create that.
After Fraser Forster made another superb stop on 77 minutes, this time denying Dennis from the angle, the ball was hooked clear by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and our Spanish wing-back set about pursuing the loose ball. He was met by the challenge of Morgan Gibbs-White who attempted to shield the ball out of play for a throw in, but the England Under-21 international misjudged the pace of the ball. Bouncing much more slowly towards the touchline that Gibbs-White expected, Pedro cleverly nipped around the midfielder and quickly managed to reclaim the ball before being fouled and winning a free-kick to alleviate the pressure.
Watch - Pedro's neat play
6 – Pedro’s silky skill
And the impressive January signing from Sporting CP was not done there as, 10 minutes later, he produced another neat piece of play to escape from his marker. As we looked to close the game out with just a few minutes remaining and Forest continued to looked for inroads in their quest to reduced their deficit, we had to be inventive to find a way forward – and Pedro certainly did that.
Receiving the ball from Cristian Romero on the right touchline, the Spaniard had to think quickly as Emmanuel Dennis flew in to challenge him. With not much room to manoeuvre and Dennis steaming in, the wing-back swiftly and cutely dragged the ball back with his right foot before knocking it around the Nigerian striker. Away from his marker, he then cut it back to Oliver Skipp to help set us on our way forward once more.
