Nottingham Forest continued its challenge for a Premier League top-four spot as Anthony Elanga’s first-half goal secured a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur to put it third on Thursday.
Elanga completed a superb Forest counter-attack in the 28th minute to settle a contest that Tottenham ended with 10 men after former Forest player Djed Spence was sent off.
The result moved Forest provisionally up to third with 34 points, while Tottenham’s fourth defeat in five Premier League games left it in 11th with 23 points after 18 games.
Tottenham had edged the opening exchanges with former Forest winger Brennan Johnson going close for the visitor but the host struck in devastating fashion.
READ | Suffering continues for Manchester City with 1-1 league draw with Everton
When Tottenham lost possession on the edge of the Forest area, the ball was played to Morgan Gibbs-White who split the visiting defence with a superb pass and Elanga beat goalkeeper Fraser Forster with a deft finish.
It was enough for Forest to win a third successive top-flight game for the first time since 1995 and was especially sweet for manager Nuno Espirito Santo who was sacked by Tottenham three years ago.
Forest now has more points than it managed in the whole of last season when it flirted with relegation.
Tottenham is now 11 points behind Forest and pressure is sure to mount on manager Ange Postecoglou.
His side had chances before the break with Matz Sels twice denying Johnson and Son Heung-min hitting the side-netting with a free kick shortly before the interval.
Tottenham was toothless after the break though and its frustration was summed up when Spence was shown a second yellow card deep in stoppage time.
Bournemouth 0-0 Crystal Palace
Bournemouth slipped to sixth as it played out a 0-0 home draw with Crystal Palace.
Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta shot wide early, with Bournemouth’s best chance coming when Dango Ouattara’s blocked header from a corner fell to Antoine Semenyo whose effort was cleared off the line by Ismaila Sarr in the 23rd minute.
Bournemouth’s Kepa Arrizabalaga dived to his right to keep out Eberechi Eze’s long-range left-footer in the 49th minute, shortly before Palace’s Dean Henderson pulled off a double save to deny Semenyo and Justin Kluivert.
Palace, who has moved a provisional five points clear of the relegation zone with 17 points from 18 matches, hosts bottom side Southampton on Sunday when Bournemouth, who has 29 points and is four points off the top four, visits Fulham.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com