Modest improvements for Spurs bring modest return at Forest to quell some of the early angst
- By Yann Tear at the City Ground
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
Premier League
Nottingham Forest 0
Tottenham Hotspur 0
Spurs are finally on the scoreboard.
That's in terms of points, though, not goals. Goals would perhaps be pushing it.
The display may have looked more organised and together than in the first two games of the season - both defeats - but Roberto de Zerbi's men are still not striking too much terror in opposition defences as yet. It's now three blanks in a row.
It needed a VAR intervention to secure the draw, however, as midway through the second half, Neco Williams' attempt to beat Sandro Tonali to nudge a ball over the line was deemed to be handball.
The ball had bounced agonisingly towards the goalline after Morgan Gibbs-White's attempt to lift a shot over an onrushing Anton Kinsky resulted in the Spurs keeper getting just enough on it to slow down its flight.
Forest - still seeking their first win - are a team built to sit in and Oliver Glasner's men were happy to let Spurs have most of the ball and wait to spring.
If it was a trap it could have been undermined a quarter of an hour in when Pedro Porro's clever arcing ball from the right fell perfectly for Omar Marmoush ahead of the last man, but the Man City loan signing drilled wide with only Matz Sels to beat.
It would prove to be their best chance of the afternoon.
Spurs fans gave Gibbs-White the bird again - still not forgiving him for cold-shouldering a Tottenham approach last year.
The hosts were slow to create chances but a Williams cross from the left ended in the pathway of defender Jair Cunha, who let fly with a rasping drive that did not clear the bar by much.
They also looked more menacing when Delap played a first-time ball for Gibbs-White to scamper onto, but Kinsky blocked the final shot with a linesman's flag in any case ensuring the deadlock would not be broken in the first half.
The Lilywhites began brightly after the interval and Micky van de Ven's near post header from an inswinging Savio corner missed only by inches, while Marmoush moments earlier won a free-kick just outside the area that he blasted a against the wall.
Dominic Solanke came on for Marmoush and headed just over late on.
Chelsea reject Rory Delap made his first start for Forest, but Spurs had Savio for his own landmark overture and hoped that that would count for more. In the end, neither man became the story. Neither did Mykhailo Mudryk, who came off the bench for his debut after his own loan switch from Stamford Bridge.
Forest: (3-4-2-1) Sels - Jair Cunha, Milenkovic, Murillo (Diomande 90) - Aina (Munoz 59), Schlager, McAtee, Williams - Ndoye (Jesus 59), Gibbs-White - Delap (Wood 74)
Spurs: (4-2-3-1) Kinsky - Porro, van Hecke, van de Ven, Udogie (Robertson 60) - Bentancur, Tonali - Savio (Kudus 60), Gallagher (Fernandes 84), Tel (Mudryk 74) - Marmoush (Solanke 84)
Attendance: 30,686
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