It was another Premier League match to forget for Tottenham Hotspur as they fell to a 2-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on Easter Monday.
On his return to the N17, former Spurs manager Nuno Espirito Santo guided Forest to an accomplished victory in north London
Within the opening 20 minutes, the Lilywhites found themselves with a mountain to climb. Guglielmo Vicario couldn’t keep out Elliot Anderson’s deflected strike before Chris Wood powerfully headed in Forest’s second.
Both central defenders were taken off at the interval and Spurs threatened to reduce the deficit.
Harry Toffolo heroically cleared off the goal-line to thrwart Dejan Kulusevski while Matz Sels made a couple of saves to deny Richarilsom.
The Brazilian striker eventually breached the Belgian’s net with an accurate header but his effort proved to be only a consolation.
Another league loss for Ange Postecoglou and his players leaves them in 16th position with just five games left to play.
Here are the player ratings following a display bereft of quality in north London:
Tottenham players ratings
Guglielmo Vicario – 2
It was another disastrous showing from Vicario with the Spurs stopper being at fault for both goals.
The Italian made a strong stop early on, diving low to his left-hand side to deny Morgan Gibbs-White from range.
Despite the deflection, the ‘keeper should have done better for Anderson’s goal. The flick off Bentancur didn’t deviate the ball away from his direction and the Italian got two strong hands to the effort.
His blushes were then spared minutes later by VAR. Once again, Vicario got a strong glove to an attempt, this time from the head of Chris Wood, and it still breached his net.
His lacklustre performance carried on as more indecisive goalkeeping assisted Forest once again. The former Empoli man came to gather a deep cross only for Wood to beat him to ball and nod into an empty net.
Pedro Porro - 6
Porro was Spurs’ biggest creative force tonight and registered an assist in the closing stages.
The full-back delivered an inch-perfect cross onto the head of Richarlison who directed the pass into the bottom corner.
However, it was his poor headed clearance which presented Anderson with the opportunity to strike the opener.
Cristian Romero - 3
It was a poor half from the Argentine defender and he was axed at half-time after picking up a yellow card.
The World Cup winner didn’t track the movement of Wood for the second goal, which allowed the New Zealand international to jump unchallenged and head in.
Romero picked up a booking for a rash challenge on Anderson after escaping a caution for a couple of full-blooded tackles.
Postecoglou opted to manage the captain’s minutes, which was a sensible decision considering his aggressive nature.
Micky van de Ven – 5
Alongside his defensive partner, the 23-year-old also didn’t reappear for the second half.
Van de Ven wasn’t to blame for any of the goals but arguably could’ve done more to distract Wood for the second goal.
Djed Spence – 4
Spence failed to impose himself on proceedings against his former club. The Englishman typically uses his strength and athleticism to nullify attackers and drive up the pitch. Both aspects were missing against Forest tonight.
Rodrigo Bentancur – 4
The Uruguayan stuck out a lazy leg to block Anderson’s shot which helped it past his own goalkeeper for the first goal.
Bentancur was lackadaisical in possession. On a few occasions, an attempt at a cultured header to a teammate ended up finding an opposition shirt.
Pape Matar Sarr – 5
Sarr was overwhelmed by the Forest midfield, which prevented him from recycling possession to his regular standard.
In the second half, the Senegalese midfielder was almost playing as an auxiliary striker with late bursts into the box. Unfortunately for Sarr and Spurs, he couldn’t make a meaningful contribution and looked more erratic than composed.
Dejan Kulusevski – 4
On his return to the starting eleven, Kulusevski was rusty and error-prone. The synergy between him and his fellow attackers was virtually non-existent.
In fairness to the Swede, he was desperately unlucky not to find himself on the scoresheet. His clever header from a corner was acrobatically blocked on the line by Toffolo.
Everyone of a Spurs persuasion will be hoping he can rediscover his pre-injury form in time for the Europa League semi-final against Bodo/Glimt.
Wilson Odobert – 6
Odobert was enthusiastic down the right-flank, but wasn’t on the same wavelength with Richarlison on their first start together.
The Frenchman recorded the first shot on target for the hosts with a curling effort that troubled Sels.
Richarlison – 7
Richarlison marked his return to the starting eleven with a well taken header in the 86th minute.
The striker’s season has been plagued by injury but he has wreaked havoc every time he has made an appearance.
He was a tricky customer for the typically assured defensive pairing of Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo and escaped their attention on a few occasions.
Sels produced a stunning save to claw out a header from the Brazilian but was beaten by a similar effort in the dying embers. He powerfully found the corner with a textbook header from Porro's cross.
In just 383 league minutes, Richarlison has scored four times this season, for an average of a goal every 96 minutes. If the former Everton forward had stayed fit this season, Tottenham’s fortunes might have fared slightly better.
Mathys Tel – 4
In the first period, the Bayern Munich loanee looked lively off the left and was terrorising Neco Williams.
The teenager snatched at a loose ball inside the box with a wild effort that went high and wide of the target.
After the break, Tel’s end product left a lot to be desired and lacked a cutting edge.
Substitutes
Kevin Danso – 6
Danso got some important minutes in the tank with the European semi-final on the horizon.
The 26-year-old was given licence to go forward and displayed his impressive distribution with some incisive passes that broke the lines.
Ben Davies – 5
Davies replaced Van de Ven at the break and performed his tasks astutely. His evening was made a lot easier by Forest's reluctance to score a third goal.
Brennan Johnson – 4
The Welshman was introduced with 20 minutes remaining of the game but couldn’t make an impact.
Dominic Solanke – 4
Solanke was sent on to play alongside Richarlison although he didn’t receive the appropriate service.
Lucas Bergvall – N/A
The young midfielder provided some energy and enthusiasm for the final quarter of an hour.