Nottingham Forest gave their fans the Boxing Day present they would’ve been hoping for as they beat Tottenham 1-0 in the Premier League.
In a game that featured Spurs fans criticising Brennan Johnson on his return to the City Ground, Forest beat Tottenham to climb to an unthinkable third place in the Premier League table.
Murillo received praise from Patrick Rowe for his display in the Forest defence, whilst Nuno Espirito Santo hailed the City Ground atmosphere that helped his side see off the possession-heavy Spurs in the second half especially.
Swedish winger Anthony Elanga scored the game’s only goal, his third successive game where he has found the net. Elanga praised Espirito Santo’s pre-season for its role in Forest’s incredible 24/25 season, with its effects on full display in all aspects of Forest’s performance against Spurs.
Here are five things we learned about Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 Boxing Day victory over Tottenham at the City Ground.
Nottingham Forest have the perfect possession antidote
Spurs dominated the ball against Forest, keeping 70% of possession in their eventual defeat. However, the Forest manager had clearly planned for this when analysing the winning goal.
In a picture-perfect counterattack, Morgan Gibbs-White drove forward into the space left behind before slipping the ball into Elanga who finished stylishly past Fraser Forster.
Forest fans mocked Ange Postecoglou for his side’s display against Forest, but would’ve been delighted to see how effortlessly Espirito Santo handled a possession-hungry side, a tactic that the majority of the Premier League likes to adopt.
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Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo are amongst the Premier League elite
Another clean sheet for Forest against Spurs took them to seven for the season, with centre-back pairing Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo at the heart of the strong back line as usual.
Milenkovic won every duel he competed in against Dominic Solanke and co, whilst Murillo completed four tackles and ten clearances as Spurs piled on the pressure in the second half.
Damien Delaney compared Milenkovic and Murillo to Arsenal’s defence of Gabriel and William Saliba after the Brentford win, which would’ve seemed a crazy comparison at the start of the season but their form has warranted their inclusion in comparison’s with the Premier League’s elite defenders.
Matz Sels deserves his Nottingham Forest place
Forest have been linked with replacing Matz Sels in either the summer window or in January, but the Belgian has more than earned the trustof Espirito Santo and Evangelos Marinakis.
After Sels stopped a massive Johnson chance against Spurs that ensured three points for his side, the Forest owner should move away from looking for a replacement for Sels as any available funds would be best placed in other areas.
At 32 years old, Sels’ form isn’t showing any signs of slowing so Marinakis should repay the Belgian’s displays with a show of faith in the transfer window.
Nottingham Forest create breathing room in European race
The win over Spurs has opened up a five-point gap between Forest and sixth-place Bournemouth in the Premier League table.
With Manchester City a point behind Bournemouth on 28 points and surely due an improvement on their horrendous form at some point, any gap that Espirito Santo’s side can create will be valuable.
The Forest squad will be pushing as hard as they can to ensure they see out this remarkable European push to the end of the season and having distance between themselves and the chasing pack will help them immesurably.
Brennan Johnson isn’t missed at the City Ground
The Forest Academy graduate had a torrid time against Neco Williams down the Forest left, with the Welsh fullback winning eight of his 11 duels against the Spurs winger.
There could be a sense of bitterness from Forest fans about seeing one of their own line up against them, but the wingers in the Forest squad showed just why Johnson isn’t missed.