The tedious reality concerning the trendy Premier League is that the perfect groups attempt to maintain it boring. It’s all about management and the elimination of jeopardy, which makes Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur an uncommon success story. His is a group which thrives in adversity, which appears to require some ingredient of threat to search out its highest gear. Right here they threw away a result in a gentle objective, rode their luck, ripped up their midfield and solely then discovered cruising angle towards a group which is barely out of the relegation zone on objective distinction.
Spurs’ greatest participant was arguably James Maddison, additionally the star of this week’s episode of unexplained VAR mysteries. Peripheral and annoyed within the first half, he appeared to down Forest’s Ryan Yates with an off-the-ball one-inch punch to the center. The incident was reviewed and cleared. The cosmic ballet goes on. Â
Maddison performed an element within the two second-half targets which gave Spurs respiration house. However a extra refined group would by no means have discovered themselves needing a rescue mission in a house sport like this. Spurs began as they usually do, keen however too hurried. They’d numbers in assault however little motion, which left a lot of the artistic duty to the defensive midfielder pair of Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma. Each had been eliminated at half-time, which tells you ways that panned out.
Timo Werner was a extra composed outlet and he made the opening objective, let out on the left by Heung-min Son and crossing low throughout the six-yard field. Forest midfielder Danilo had tried to embarrass Spurs keeper Vicario moments earlier, attempting a shot from deep inside his personal half. That dropped simply broad, however he had his objective now, albeit into his personal web.
Forest’s response was predictable in execution and due to this fact defensively suspect. Nuno Espirito Santo all the time appeared prone to goal Spurs on the counter on his first return to the membership the place he spent an sad 4 months in 2021. His new group’s wingers are their most potent asset and Anthony Elanga went clear behind Future Udogie with embarrassing ease.
His cross was helpfully slowed by a Cristian Romero deflection and Chris Wooden scored for the fourth consecutive league sport. He ought to have had a second when cracking a submit from shut vary. He ought to have had a 3rd when needlessly offside, when a delayed run would nonetheless have given him a free header. He missed it anyway.
Spurs had been reeling however instantly improved by the introduction of Pierr-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur at half-time. You can say Micky Van de Ven’s objective appeared in from the second he hit it, however you’d be mendacity. Such was the violence of his shot there was no time to course of he had struck the ball earlier than it was testing the integrity of the objective web. Additional defender-on-goal aggression adopted when Pedro Porro lashed in a volley after Maddison’s cross was intelligently nodded throughout by Bentancur.
By now Maddison appeared reworked, Son was excelling as link-man extraordinaire and Spurs had been working at a better gear than Forest might handle. However the self-harm was not over fairly but, when the in any other case wonderful Hjobjerg induced a scene in his personal field and almost gave Forest an opportunity to attain a late winner.
Their flurry of second-half subs made little distinction, Spurs’ clearly did. However they nonetheless really feel like a group counting on exterior elements to outline their performances. That is nice enjoyable, definitely so long as they’re discovering methods to win video games like these. However Postecoglou speaks repeatedly concerning the want for progress and enchancment. It’s not sustainable to be this risky.
