Nottingham Forest 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs lost in the fog at the City Ground

It was a foggy, dreary day in Nottingham as Tottenham Hotspur were due to face a surprising Nottingham Forest today. There was a fog on the pitch and a fog in the minds of the Spurs players, who worked hard but couldn’t find a way past Matz Sels and a strong Forest defense. Anthony Elanga scored the only goal of the game in the first half, edging past Destiny Udogie and past Fraser Forster on a counter-attack. Spurs huffed and puffed but were unable to find an equalizer and fell further down with a 1-0 defeat.

Tottenham did a slight rotation in the starting lineup (which is pretty much what Ange Postecoglou can do these days). Rodrigo Bentancur returned from his seven-match ban and started in midfield alongside Pape Sarr. Destiny Udogie, who had been rested after suffering a knock a few games ago, returned to the starting XI while Djed Spence gave Pedro Porro a much-needed break on the right. James Maddison was also rested as Brennan Johnson returned to the lineup.

A frustrating result. Here are my match reactions.

Match Reactions:

• Yes, that was one of them this games. You know them. I’ve already said that one of the stories of this game is the fact that the Spurs have been unable to win ANY of their 50/50 games this season. That was another one. I would almost say that Spurs were clearly the better team and still suffered a 1-0 defeat. How do you explain that?
• This game was reminiscent of Spurs at the start of the season – lots of possession, lots of penalty area entries, but very little shot production.
• And of course, with all that possession, it makes perfect sense for Forest to score their only goal of the game with a classic counter-attack goal after a stupid midfield giveaway.
• Final xG: NFO 1.21 – 1.28 TOT, Spurs had 71% possession and beat Forest 13-10.
• Spurs really lacked any creativity in the first half and substitutes Bergvall and Maddison made the difference. In my opinion Bergvall particularly provided a spark, he played well, made quick tackles and made progressive passes.
• The fog on the pitch was really visible on TV and I wondered if it was affecting the players on the pitch as much.
• Really disappointing games from the entire front line today. Son, Solanke and especially Brennan Johnson have all been below average and when that happens you won’t win many games.
• I’m going to put it lightly and suggest finishing a game with Archie Gray and Yves Bissouma as your two centre-backs are far from ideal. Luckily, Ben Davies could be back for Wolves?
• Spence’s cheap second yellow and a suspension for the next game were just the icing on this crappy sundae.
• Forest are a good team and Nuno does them proud, but it still feels like a game that slipped away from Spurs. One point would have been fair. A victory was not out of the question here. Grr.