LONDON: Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood scored his 19th Premier League goal of the season in a vital 2-1 away victory at Tottenham Hotspur which sent his side up three places to third in the table on Monday.

Consecutive league defeats had slowed Forest’s push for Champions League qualification and they started the day sixth but they got their challenge back on track thanks mainly to a superb start in north London.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side took the lead after five minutes when a corner fell to Elliot Anderson on the edge of the area and his powerful deflected drive found the net.

New Zealander Wood then had a goal disallowed by VAR for a marginal offside decision before doubling Forest’s lead with a glancing header from Anthony Elanga’s cross in the 16th minute.

Tottenham improved after their calamitous start and Richarlison rewarded their pressure with a powerful header from a Pedro Porro cross to beat Matz Sels in the 87th to set up a nervy finale.

Forest hung on though to move above Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle United in the race for a top-five finish with 60 points. Europa League semi-finalists Tottenham are 16th with 37 after an 18th league defeat of the season.

“The result was massive for us. It was a huge game to come into to try to get three points. The lads dug in and we showed what we are about and we’re buzzing,” Anderson said. “We really needed that after two defeats. We have come back and bounced back so it is huge for us. We’ve got to keep believing until the last game. We will be pushing.”

Nuno said his team had toughed it out against the home side, who he admitted had his men “against the ropes”.

“It is about getting through it, especially in these moments of the season when there is fatigue, not only physical but mental, anxiety — all these things made the team go back a bit,” he told Sky Sports.

Nuno, whose side play Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals this weekend, said his team had a big week ahead of them.

“You don’t get these moments often, especially in this league when we are fighting for something nobody expected,” he added.

Forest, who finished 17th last season, are two-time European champions but have not played in the continent’s top club competition since the 1980/81 season.

Tottenham, who ground out an aggregate win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday, could yet salvage their season by winning the Europa League and delivering a first trophy since 2008.

Spurs face Bodo/Glimt in the semi-finals of the Europa League next month, with the winner of the competition guaranteed a place in next season’s Champions League.

But a first home league defeat by Forest since 1997, one masterminded by the manager Tottenham sacked after only four months in 2021, increases the pressure on Ange Postecoglou who is in danger of leading the north London club to their worst Premier League points haul since they earned 44 in 1997-98.

A disappointed Postecoglou said his side had dominated Monday’s game but had “conceded poor goals and given ourselves a mountain to climb”.

“It’s another unacceptable loss,” he said. “It’s too many losses. I know that. I don’t need to tell the fans anything. The fans clearly wouldn’t be happy with our results, but neither am I and neither are the players.

The Australian, whose team travel to face Liverpool on Sunday, admitted the Europa League was now his priority as he tries to achieve momentum and protect his players.

BURNLEY AND LEEDS UNITED PROMOTED

Also on Monday, Leeds United and Burnley won automatic promotion to the Premier League as faltering Sheffield United were forced to settle for a place in the Championship play-offs.

Leeds, who have spent two seasons in the second tier of English football, thrashed Stoke City 6-0 to go top of the Championship on 94 points with two matches remaining and needed Burnley to then not lose to third-placed Sheffield to make sure they would finish in the top two.

Burnley duly obliged with a 2-1 win, securing automatic promotion alongside Leeds. Scott Parker’s side, who were relegated last season, joined Leeds on 94 points to leave Sheffield on 86 and now facing the prospect of trying to join them via the playoffs.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2025