Battling Nottingham Forest See Off Tottenham Hotspur To Boost Champions League Hopes

Nottingham Forest beat struggling Tottenham 2-1 on Monday, bouncing back from two defeats to strengthen their push for a Champions League spot and heap the pressure on Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou. Forest came into the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in sixth spot in the table after losses to Aston Villa and Everton. But early goals from Elliot Anderson and top-scorer Chris Wood settled their nerves and they held on tenaciously despite a late goal from Richarlison to climb to third in the table.

Leaders Liverpool have one hand on the Premier League title and Arsenal are likely to finish second.

But behind them the competition is fierce for the top five places that will guarantee qualification for the Champions League next season.

Just three points separate Forest from Aston Villa in seventh spot, with five games remaining for all the contenders.

Nuno Espirito Santo's visitors took the lead in the fifth minute following a corner when Anderson's deflected shot beat Guglielmo Vicario.

Wood had the ball in the net five minutes later but it was ruled out by VAR for offside.

But the New Zealander doubled Forest's lead in the 16th minute, nodding a cross from Anthony Elanga past Vicario.

Spurs dominated possession and had more shots on goal but provided little threat.

Forest had a chance to make it 3-0 10 minutes into the second half when Wood cushioned the ball into the path of Morgan Gibbs-White but the midfielder skewed his shot wide.

Forest defender Harry Toffolo produced a spectacular overhead goal-line clearance to keep out Dejan Kulusevski's header shortly after the hour mark.

Postecoglou brought on former Forest winger Brennan Johnson and forward Dominic Solanke with a quarter of the match to go.

Matz Sels produced