Tottenham were beaten 2-1 by Nottingham Forest on Monday night, with Ange Postecoglou's men falling to an 18th Premier League defeat of the season.

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Anderson & Wood goals put visitors two upRicharlison with late replyForest up to third while Spurs in 16thFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportTELL ME MORE

Forest went in front inside five minutes when Pedro Porro failed to deal with the visitors' first corner, allowing Elliot Anderson's shot from the edge of the box to deflect off the leg of Rodrigo Bentancur and squirm through the hands of Guglielmo Vicario.

That lead seemed to have been doubled only another five minutes later when Anderson's cross found Chris Wood to tap home, only for VAR and the new semi-automated offside system to step in and rule it out, much to Spurs' gratitude.

However, after five more minutes, Wood had his goal and this time it was allowed to stand. A clever free-kick routine found Anthony Elanga on the left wing, and his cross found the New Zealand striker between centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, while Vicario was caught in no man's land for the crucial header.

Tottenham ought to have pulled one back before the break with Mathys Tel firing over from close range and then Richarlison heading wide from a delicious Wilson Odobert cross. Alas, they went into half-time two goals down.

In the second half, Dejan Kulusevski had a looping header from a corner hooked off the line by Harry Toffolo, before goalkeeper Matz Sels came off his line to smother Richarlison when a loose ball fell the Brazilian's way.

With five minutes to go, Richarlison headed home following a fine cross from Pedro Porro to set up a nervy finish. Nevertheless, Forest clung on to secure three precious points and climb back up to third in the Premier League table, with Spurs all the way down in 16th.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE MVP

There were plenty of heroes in Forest red, but perhaps the standout was deadlock-breaker Anderson. Coming into midfield from the left, he twisted Spurs inside and out in the opening exchanges of the game, during which the visitors built up what proved to be an unassailable lead. He also would have had an assist to his name had Wood timed his run a bit better for his disallowed goal.

Anderson was not alone in providing the good for Forest, though. The likes of Murillo, Morgan Gibbs-White and the aforementioned Wood deserve special praise too, as does goalkeeper Sels.

Of course, Nuno Espirito Santo will also be feeling particularly chuffed having secured his first win back at Tottenham since the club sacked him in 2021. As his new side march on towards an unlikely Champions League place, his former employers remain marooned deep in the bottom half.

Getty Images SportTHE BIG LOSER

Postecoglou would have felt on top of the world after Spurs secured progression to the Europa League semi-finals last Thursday, particularly after they put in such an impressive and street-wise performance. Yet his side's most glaring weaknesses were on full display here, showing a lack of appetite to defend and giving themselves far too much to do when chasing a game.

That's now Tottenham's 18th defeat of the Premier League season, and we can't be far away from him going full Mick McCarthy 'it can't go on like this? It can!'.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

Tottenham head to Liverpool on Sunday with the Reds only needing one more win to secure the Premier League title. Forest, meanwhile, will travel back to London to play Manchester City at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals.