As Omar Marmoush bore down on Matz Sels’ goal in the 18th minute, he appeared seconds away from providing the manifestation of the football Roberto De Zerbi has promised to deliver at Tottenham Hotspur.The build-up was swift and of high quality, characteristic of the ‘De Zerbi-ball’. A classy move culminated in Pedro Porro — who was occupying the right half-space in place of Conor Gallagher after he wilfully abdicated his position — chipping a delicate ball over the Nottingham Forest defence and into the path of Marmoush, who looked for all the world as if he was about to break the deadlock.But as he dragged his shot inches wide of the post, gone went Tottenham’s best opportunity of the game and much of the momentum built over a bright, if not entirely penetrative, start at the City Ground.Marmoush spurned a glorious first-half opening against Forest (Michael Regan/Getty Images)A 0-0 draw gives Tottenham their first point of the league season and a first clean sheet after three games. But it also represents the first time Spurs have not scored in their first three league games since 1974 — an unwanted record that seems at odds with the free-flowing, attacking style the Italian has built a reputation for delivering.At least De Zerbi and Spurs left the City Ground with something — which is more than can be said for Thomas Frank and Ange Postecoglou in their previous two trips to Nottingham — but while the shiny new attack threatened to delight, it ultimately failed to make the most of their goalscoring opportunities.That Marmoush chance was the best of them, though it was not the only one. The Egypt international was again set free in the Forest half in the second period, and had the opportunity to feed Andy Robertson on the overlap, who was screaming for his team-mates’ attention. Had Marmoush played his new team-mate in, perhaps the Scotland captain would have done the same for Mohammed Kudus. Instead, his new Egyptian colleague cut inside from the edge of the box and blazed a shot wildly over the bar.