In the cartoon “Piraajaklubi”, which also appeared in Estonian newspapers years ago, a character called Masked Laksija appeared from time to time. On Friday evening, at Nottingham Forest’s home stadium, the City Ground, it was Dejan Kulusevski who led Tottenham Hotspur to a 2-0 victory. However, to get three points, the citizens of the capital had to work very hard in vain, because in the last 20 minutes they had to act with ten of them.
At the end of a first half lacking in opportunities, Kulusevski’s beautiful cross from the right wing was decisive. The Sweden international, who was wearing a protective mask due to a recent facial injury, hung the ball so deftly over Richarlison’s head that it wasn’t too difficult for the Brazilian to direct it past Matt Turner. Upon returning from half-time, the home crowd could cheer for a while, but the joy of the goal of another member of the Swedish national team, Anthony Elanga, was short-lived: the attacker was offside when he received one pass before scoring.
In the 65th minute, Forest digs themselves into a hole, and it’s all in the person of Turner. The American sent a bad ball from in front of goal, which landed directly on Kulusevski’s leg, and then also had difficulty blocking the winger’s shot that arrived in front of him. Kulusevski sends the ball into the net through Turner’s fingers and 2-0 means the reins are already firmly in Spurs’ hands.
That all changed just five minutes later when Yves Bissouma hit Ryan Yates in the caps knee in midfield, and Jarred Gillett, who had initially shown him a yellow card, reached for a red in his pocket. This is Bissouma’s second suspension of the season, meaning he will now have to miss four matches: the league matches against Everton, Brighton and Bournemouth and the cup match against Burnley. Bissouma will not be able to return to the field until January 14th for the duel with Manchester United, which means he will be out of action for almost a month.
This is a huge blow to the already injury-ravaged Spurs, plus Destiny Udogie has received his fifth yellow card of the season and will also be a spectator against Everton. This time, however, they managed to maintain the lead and Forest only came close to the goal twice: first Guglielmo Vicario blocked Harry Toffolo’s header with his foot, then in extra time the post also shook. The win keeps Spurs fifth in the table, while Forest manager Steve Cooper’s job is in jeopardy after picking up just one point from their last six league games. The table is still five points away from the relegation zone.
Nottingham Forest-Tottenham Hotspur 0:2 (0:1)
45+2. Richarlison, 65. Dejan Kulusevski
Elimination: 70. Yves Bissouma (Tottenham)
Classification:
2023-12-15 23:01:33
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