Tottenham Hotspur move to fourth by cutting down Nottingham Forest
Tottenham Hotspur claimed a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest to displace Aston Villa and move to fourth in the Premier League 2023-24 standings. Murillo's own goal handed Spurs an early lead before Chris Wood equalized in the 27th minute. Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro scored in a space of six minutes in the second half to earn a 3-1 win.
Match stats and points table
In an entertaining contest, Spurs clocked 17 attempts out of which 7 were on target. Forest made 13 attempts with six shots on target. Spurs enjoyed more ball possession (64%) and an 84% pass accuracy. After 31 matches, Spurs have raced to 60 points. Their goal difference of +20 is better than Aston Villa's (+17). Forest suffered their 17th defeat and remain 17th.
Key stats for the two teams
Tottenham have won each of their last six Premier League meetings with Nottingham Forest. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Forest have lost most away games in the Premier League (23). This was Forest's third successive away defeat against Tottenham. Spurs have collected 12 home wins from 16 matches this season in the Premier League (L4).
Key takeaways from Romero and van de Ven's performances
As per Squawka, Spurs defender Cristian Romero won the most aerial duels and did not lose a single one (5/5). Meanwhile, van de Ven made the most successful tackles (5) and was not dribbled past once. He did not lose a single ground duel (5/5).
How did the match pan out?
The hosts opened the scoring inside 15 minutes when Murillo diverted Timo Werner's cross into his own net. Forest equalized 12 minutes later through Wood, who scored from Anthony Elanga's cross. Van de Ven restored Tottenham's lead in the 52nd minute with a thunderous shot as Porro netted a third for Spurs, hammering in James Maddison's pass across goal.