The National Times - Spurs collapse against Forest, failing acid test

Thousands lined the streets to cheer the squad before the crunch fixture in north London and there was a crackling atmosphere in the ground as kick-off approached.

Spurs bossed the first half but Forest took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Brazilian forward Igor Jesus headed home a Neco Williams corner.

Forest doubled their lead just after the hour mark when Morgan Gibbs-White finished under Guglielmo Vicario and substitute Taiwo Awoniyi compounded Tottenham's misery with a late strike.

The vital win for Vitor Pereira's men lifts them above Spurs, who are now just one point and one place above the bottom three.

Last year's Europa League winners are staring at the nightmare prospect of relegation from the top tier of English football for the first time since 1977 unless they can arrest their steep decline.

As if to underline the club's current plight, a few miles across London, bitter rivals Arsenal were gunning for their first trophy of a potential quadruple in the League Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley.

Spurs, led by interim boss Igor Tudor, came into Sunday's game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without a win in the Premier League since late December.

But they were buoyed by last week's 1-1 draw at Liverpool and a midweek win against Atletico Madrid, even though they exited the Champions League on aggregate.

- Fans rally -

Fan groups set up a initiative ahead of the game called "Show Up, Sing Up, Stay Up", calling for supporters to rally.

Fireworks were let off and a section of fans chanted the name of former boss Mauricio Pochettino before the team bus was serenaded with chants of "Come on you Spurs" as white and blue smoke filled the air.

A message on the stadium screens from captain Cristian Romero said: "We'll fight for everything, all together."

Forest, who started the day just outside the drop zone, looked the more dangerous team in the early minutes but Tottenham settled and started to enjoy the bulk of the possession, with Richarlison heading wide.

However, the home side struggled to create clear-cut chances and paid the price when Jesus put Forest ahead in the 45th minute, meeting Williams' corner with a bullet header.

Spurs came within a whisker of levelling at the other end but Forest goalkeeper Matz Selz touched Mathys Tel's powerful shot onto the crossbar in the dying seconds of the opening period.

As the half wore on the home fans among the crowd of 61,519 became increasingly edgy.

And they were shocked into silence when Gibbs-White, a target for Spurs in last summer's transfer window, slotted home in the 62nd minute from Callum Hudson-Odoi's cross.

Tudor made a number of attacking changes, bringing on Randal Kolo Muani and Xavi Simons, but to no avail.

Awoniyi's goal in the 87th minute sent home fans scurrying for the exits.

The only chink of light for Spurs on Sunday was a 2-0 defeat for West Ham against Aston Villa, which leaves the Hammers in the bottom three.

N.Roberts--TNT