It promises to be a long three weeks for Tottenham Hotspur and Igor Tudor. That is, of course, if Tudor gets the time, after Nottingham Forest plunged Spurs deeper into the relegation fight, recording a humiliating 3-0 victory. “We are staying up,” was the chant from the away fans, who delighted in suggesting Stevenage could be visiting this vast arena for a Championship game in August.
When Spurs, a point above the relegation zone, do re-emerge after the international break, their trip to Sunderland will be the first of seven games to save their Premier League status. For Forest, who had to weather a first-half storm, waves of Spurs set pieces, this turned into a dreamy afternoon in the capital, a second victory in four days and, crucially, Vítor Pereira’s first league win since taking charge last month. West Ham’s defeat at Aston Villa only enhanced Forest’s fuzzy feeling.
Igor Jesus rocked Spurs by heading in unmarked from a corner at the end of the first half and then Morgan Gibbs-White, a Tottenham target last summer, doubled Forest’s lead, capping a move he started when left totally unmarked just beyond the penalty spot. Evangelos Marinakis, the Forest owner, dug his heels in to keep hold of Gibbs-White amid that interest and handed him a new contract. The substitute Taiwo Awoniyi compounded things for the hosts, adding the third after side-footing in the impressive Neco Williams’s brilliant cross from the left.
