Nottingham Forest 1-0 Tottenham: Anthony Elanga scores only goal of the game before late Djed Spencer red card as high-flying Reds inflict more misery on Ange Postecoglou's side
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Mist rolled in from the River Trent as they do in the Nottingham Forest terrace anthem but the songs in the air were all about scaling the Premier League, reaching Europe and even the Champions League. Nearly 30 years have passed since the last of their famous adventures overseas, but Forest are third in the Premier League after beating Tottenham at the City Ground and starting to dream under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Anthony Elanga’s goal in the first half made it four wins in a row for Nuno’s team, easing them up to third and already beyond last season’s total of 32 points. Forest look increasingly sure of themselves, comfortable in a system that suits their best players and bruising the egos of the elite along the way.
Tottenham are the latest victims, and the defeat only piles more pressure on Ange Postecoglou as his team wallow in the bottom half. This was their first Boxing Day defeat since 2003 and came with the hallmarks of defeats at Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, this season. On each of those occasions, they slipped behind and could not find a goal against teams set up to defend deep and in numbers.
. Beyond the insult of another defeat came another injury. This one to Radu Dragusin who limped off and left his team to with Archie Gray and Yves Bissouma in central defence. Then came a red card for Djed Spence, who picked up a second yellow fouling Jota Silva to halt a late counter attack in stoppage time.
