Nottingham Forest 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur: Ten-man visitors underline top-four aspirations with win at City Ground

Ten-man Tottenham condemned Nottingham Forest to a fifth Premier League defeat in six games as they underlined their top-four ambitions at the City Ground.

The result moves fifth-placed Tottenham level on points with Manchester City, although the champions have played a game less.

Forest who sit 16th in the table, five points clear of the bottom three, have now won just once in their previous 13 matches in the English top flight, and the outcome of this contest is only likely to increase the pressure on boss Steve Cooper.

His side had their moments and showed plenty of endeavour but lacked the composure and quality in the final third that visitors were able to display in key moments.

Spurs controlled much of the first period, in which they lost Brennan Johnson to a head injury, and deservedly went ahead on the stroke of half-time when Brazil forward Richarlison nodded in from Kulusevski’s superb cross from the right.

The hosts made an encouraging start to the second period and Willy Boly missed arguably their best opportunity to level, blazing over from just inside the visitors’ penalty area.

Cooper’s side also briefly thought they had equalised just before the hour mark but the video assistant referee correctly judged that Anthony Elanga had just strayed offside before sweeping in Neco Williams’ cross.

And two errors from goalkeeper Matt Turner sealed their fate, with the American passing a clearance straight to Kulusevski before allowing Sweden winger powerful drive to beat him at the near post.

Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario’s reaction save from Harry Toffolo’s point-blank header and a moment of miscommunication between Elanga and the Forest left-wing back summed up an unproductive evening for the hosts in the final third.

• ‘The owner’s after him’ – is Cooper on brink at Forest?

Kulusevski takes centre stage on difficult night for Cooper

While Son Heung-min played a starring role in Spurs’ thrashing of Newcastle last Sunday, Kulusevski was their inspiration at the City Ground.

The former Juventus man was a constant source of danger and excelled after switching to the right flank with Johnson going off with a cut to the head after a nasty clash with his former teammate Boly.

Kulusevski’s curling and pacey delivery for Richarlison’s opener left Turner in no man’s land and gave the Brazilian as easy chance as any to register goals in consecutive games for the first time as a Tottenham player.

And when Forest looked to be rallying, Kulusevski got the goal his performance deserved, shifting the ball away from Moussa Niakhate and emphatically driving it past Turner to give his side a valuable cushion.

With captain Son expected to feature for South Korea at the Asian Cup in January, Kulusevski’s form and that of Richarlison – who was described as a “goalmouth monster” by his manager – have come at the right time.

“He [Dejan Kulusevski] has been great for us all year. He started in the middle for us today, looked dangerous, then when Brennan [Johnson] went off he went back out wide and had the quality of delivery,” Postecoglou said.

However, the former Celtic and Australia boss will be far from happy about an impending four-match suspension for Bissouma, who was sent off for the second time this season for an almost knee-high tackle on Ryan Yates.

The reception given to Cooper as the teams emerged before kick-off left little doubt that he still commands the firm support of the Forest fans.

And given the way his side went about their business there is little to suggest that the Forest players are not putting in a shift for their manager.

Still, their next home game against Bournemouth on 23 December takes on added significance if he is to retain the confidence of owner Evangelos Marinakis.