Nottingham Forest beat Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, in a game where Anthony Elanga bagged the only goal of the fixture.
Nottingham Forest fans were treated to a late Christmas present on Boxing Day, with Nuno Espirito’s side emerging 1-0 victors at The City Ground.
Forest had some standout players against Spurs. Elanga was quality, Murillo was a monster and Morgan Gibbs-White showed his excellence. It was a display by a team that truly looked like they belonged in third place in the Premier League.
But it was the travelling manager, Ange Postecoglou, who singled out one Nottingham Forest ace for his contributions at the end of the game.
Ange Postecoglou singles out Matz Sels for performance vs Spurs
The Aussie manager reflected on the game, and mostly on how it was unusual for Tottenham not to have scored during the Premier League Boxing Day clash.
Postecoglou begins: “It’s a bit of, like I said, game state. I kind of knew that if they can get a goal up, it was going to get even tighter for us to find space behind them.
“It was never going to be a game with a lot of opportunities. Having said that, I still thought we created some good ones and we just weren’t able to capitalise on them.”
Postecoglou then went on to single out Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels for his contributions to the fixture. He was a huge factor in keeping the Lilywhites at bay on Thursday afternoon.
MORE FOREST STORIES
“The keeper [Sels] has pulled off a couple of good saves to keep them in the game,” the Tottenham manager continued. “We just needed a goal to break them open and we didn’t get it.”
Matz Sels game by numbers vs Tottenham Hotspur
What a signing Sels has been for Forest. The veteran Belgian goalkeeper was bought in more so as a necessity and even Sels knew it was a risk to come – but has quickly cemented himself as one of the finest and most reliable shot-stoppers in England’s top flight.
This was proven against Postecoglou’s side, with yet another ludicrous display, topped off with a clean sheet.
Sels vs Spurs
Sourced from FOTMOB.
Sels’ save from Brennan Johnson was of particular importance, but there were countless fine stops from the 32-year-old.
The win against Spurs made it five in a row for Forest. Now, with a trip to Everton looming, can they make it six?