Kane Double Fights off Forest

Sunday 28th August 2022 - 16:30

Match Report

Nottingham Forest 0 – 2 Tottenham Hotspur

Venue: The City Ground, Nottingham

Competition: English Premier League

"Pre-Match Thoughts – Following a close fought victory against Wolves last week Spurs remain unbeaten in their first 3 games. Today they look to continue on that run against newly promoted Nottingham Forest.

We're strong favourites on paper but being an away game you can guarantee they'll do all they can to make it a difficult visit.

This one has a Spurs slip-up written all over it for me, but thankfully that seems to be becoming a thing of the past with Conte in charge. I'm saying 2-1 Spurs."

Conte named an unchanged side. Romero was still absent through injury so Sánchez, who stepped up well against Wolves, was called upon again.

5' GOAL! Royal played it inside to Højbjerg, he tried to find Kane first time but it was intercepted by a sliding tackle that knocked the ball into another Forest player then into the feet of Kulusevski. He cut inside and dribbled through the centre of the Forest half before sliding a clever pass right to Kane who took a touch then drilled a shot across goal from just outside the box, it deceived the goalkeeper and rolled into the bottom left corner. A dream start for Spurs. 1-0.

Forest were determined to get back on level terms, and with their home support in full voice, they began piling pressure on Spurs' backline.

21' O'Brien picked up a headed clearance and unleashed a thunderous strike at goal that Lloris had to dive and save with two hands. He parried it out but Forest collected the rebound and Williams worked his way to the byline before delivering a dangerous cross that Perišić showed good composure to head back to Lloris from inside his own 6 yard box.

34' The majority of play centred around the Spurs penalty area and having worked it neatly out wide McKenna whipped a cross in that Johnson headed just wide.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – Spurs did well to get their noses ahead early but have been under a lot of pressure since scoring. Forest have played well to be fair, and we're going to have a struggle keeping them out if we continue on like this in the second half."

51' Again Forest worked the ball into a crossing position down the left side. This time Gibbs-White chipped one to the edge of the area that provided Yates with a free header. Fortunately he failed to find the target and Lloris was relieved to see the ball fly narrowly wide of the post.

53' Kane dug out a lovely ball to find Perišić on the top left corner of the box. The Croatian took it down on his chest, threw a few stepovers, then dinked a cross right under the crossbar that Cook threw his arm up in a desperate attempt to prevent Kane from meeting with a header and punched the ball away. A clear handball, penalty awarded, and surprisingly only a yellow card.

56' Up stepped Kane to surely score his second from the spot. He blasted it for his trademark bottom left corner penalty but Henderson had clearly seen it before and made a terrific save to keep the score at 1-0.

The young English goalkeeper revelled in the celebrations of the Forest support, ripping off his cap and waving it in the air towards the stands.

57' The atmosphere reached fever pitch and the home side immediately pushed to capitalise on it. Yet another cross came in from the left wing, this time it found Yates, who knocked it down for Williams to strike across goal on the half volley. His effort bounced up off the ground and fell just wide thanks to a slight deflection off the back of the sliding Ben Davies.

61' Kulusevski did well to muscle his way through the middle then play Son in on goal. The angle was too tight for the shot so he laid it across the face of goal where one of three Forest defenders slid to intercept. It ricocheted back to Son who cut inside and unleashed a shot from the edge of the 6 yard box. It was a clean strike but too central and was beaten away by Henderson.

Conte's intensive pre-season fitness sessions started to shine through as Forest began to tire and Spurs showed signs of sealing it with a second.

81' GOAL! Højbjerg played an excellent ball down the left side that saw Sessegnon away. He raced to the byline but delayed his cross into Kane which allowed a Forest defender to get back and block it. The recently introduced Richarlison showed great determination to collect the loose ball on the left wing, bring it back towards the box, then plant a sublime outside of the boot pass across the face of goal and onto the head of Kane to diving header home. 2-0.

90'+2' Højbjerg again did well in midfield as he beat a man before finding Richarlison in the area. He took a touch inside before smashing a shot at goal, it was saved by Henderson but the rebound fell to Spence, who had a chance to make it a dream debut but miscued his shot that was saved and cleared away.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – It wasn't pretty from Spurs, who spent the majority of the match on the back foot. Crucially though, we defended well and caught them on the counter with our quality going forward. It made the difference in the end and we head back to London with 10 points from our opening 4 games. Next, a tough test midweek, away to West Ham."

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 7.5 – Had a good few saves to make and coped with them well to ensure he came away with a well-deserved clean sheet.

• 6. Davinson Sánchez – 7.5 – Another strong performance from him as he continues to show that he's capable of stepping in for Romero in the backline.

• 15. Eric Dier – 7.5 – Did well to keep the defence sturdy under intense pressure for large periods of the match.

• 33. Ben Davies – 7.5 – A trio of solid performances from the three centre-backs. As with the other two, he was kept busy and did well to keep Forest out.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 5 – Forest clearly targeted him as they created a lot of their opportunities down his side. Did some decent things but not his best showing.

• 30. Rodrigo Bentancur – 6 – Seemed slow to get going but improved as the game went on. Didn't make much of an impact but went about keeping the midfield ticking over. Forced to leave the field with concussion towards the end.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 9 – A superb performance from him to silence the critics he seems to have. Made a heroic diving block to prevent Yates' powerful effort from finding the target. Won the ball back so many times and played a number of incisive balls forward including one down the left wing to set Sessegnon away in the build-up to our second goal, and ones that provided Kane and Richarlison with chances in the box.

• 14. Ivan Perišić – 7 – Had a lot of defending to do but looked dangerous when he did manage to get forward. The best example being when he chipped one under the bar that was punched away and earnt us a penalty.

• 21. Dejan Kulusevski – 8.5 – Showed excellent vision and composure to dart inside then find Kane for the first goal. Teed up Son for a good chance too and cut in to create chances for himself as well. Continues to look an important player for us.

• 7. Son Heung-min – 5 – Struggled again. Could have been a different story if he'd put away a couple of clear shooting opportunities he had, but unfortunately it's just not working for him right now. Must be feeling the pressure of Richarlison and I'm sure he'll eventually rise from this rough patch fighting.

• 10. Harry Kane – 9 – A thorn in the side of forest. Made it look easy within 5 minutes as he drilled one into the bottom corner to put us ahead. Dropped in to gather the ball and spray passes around when possible. Missed a penalty to everyone's surprise, but came up with the goods again as he dived to head home and seal the win in the end. He's made a terrific start to the season and looks on his way to smashing even more records if he can stay injury free.

Substitutions:

• 14. Ivan Perišić ⬅ 74' ➡ 19. Ryan Sessegnon – 5 – Delayed putting what looked a simple cross into Kane much to the England striker's frustration. Didn't do much else.

• 7. Son Heung-min ⬅ 74' ➡ 9. Richarlison – 8.5 – Quickly becoming a fan favourite with his energetic and feisty displays. Hounds down every ball and looks determined to be at the heart of the action. Demonstrated how high his confidence is right now with his audacious and accurate outside of the boot cross that found Kane for the second. Looking forward to seeing more of him.

• 21. Dejan Kulusevski ⬅ 83' ➡ 38. Yves Bissouma – N/A – Bought on late and helped see out the game.

• 30. Rodrigo Bentancur ⬅ 90'+1' ➡ 24. Djed Spence – N/A – A late debut appearance against his side of last season. Looked lively and almost found himself an unlikely goal with his first touch. Unfortunately he couldn't make a clean connection.

Man of the Match – 10. Harry Kane