Ange Postecoglou left facing bleak reality as Nottingham Forest march past Spurs
TOTTENHAM 1-2 NOTTINGHAM FOREST: The noise around Ange Postecoglou's job is only likely to grow after another disappointing evening for the Australian and his side
by Mike Walters · The MirrorNext stop for Nuno Espirito Santo and Nottingham Forest’s dream season is Wembley - and the Champions League awaits. But for Ange Postecoglou, all roads lead to Bodo/Glimt, a mere 15-hour drive north of Oslo - and he is still as close to the sack as glory.
For around five minutes, this game carried on without VAR after a fire alarm at the Stockley Park hub. Sadly, no infernal equipment was damaged - but as a mark of solidarity, Tottenham’s defence vacated the premises to allow Forest a two-goal head start.
Spurs could form a guard of honour for Liverpool on Sunday if they pitch up at Anfield to find Arne Slot’s men have already won the title. And in an admirable dress rehearsal, they stepped aside to grant Forest free passage back into the top three - and in the box seat to keep elite company in Europe next season - with a dereliction of defending in the opening quarter of an hour.
Back in 1983, this fixture was the first live televised League game, with parachutists dropping in for the pre-match entertainment along with the obligatory appearance of Spurs cheerleaders Chas and Dave.
The 1991 FA Cup final, with Brian Clough and Terry Venables holding hands, Paul Gascoigne’s trail of self-destruction and Mark Crossley saving Gary Lineker’s spot-kick - the most forgotten penalty save in Wembley history - was more conventional pomp. But seldom, in the last 34 years, have Forest enjoyed such an enriched campaign.
Nuno goes back to Wembley for a semi-final on Sunday - he lost his last one, with Wolves, despite being 2-0 up with 12 minutes to go - and the Champions League beckons the Tricky Trees like a golfer’s putt teasing the cup.
The danger, for Forest, is settling for European football of any description next season when they could be rubbing shoulders with the elite, and it took just five minutes for them to whet their appetite for a place at the top table.
Anthony Elanga’s corner was only half-cleared to Elliot Anderson, whose fierce, first-time shot took a nick off Rodrigo Bentancur, and the deflection was enough to confound Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Chris Wood was only denied making it 2-0 by a tight semi-automated VAR call, but Spurs’ reprieve lasted only another six minutes. The Kiwi striker rose to meet Elanga’s cross, with Vicario flapping like Mrs Doubtfire with the oven gloves on fire, and this time Tottenham had only their own shoddy defending to blame as Wood plundered his 19th goal of the season.
Tottenham’s reward for a season containing a staggering 22 defeats is a European semi-final near the Arctic Circle in the Thursday Night Smorgasbord League and, for once, their priority was not the result this time. A clean bill of health, with fringe players knocking on the door to face Bodo/Glimt next week, was the limit of their ambition - and they sank to the occasion expertly.
Pining for the fjords was once the preserve of a deceased Norwegian blue parrot in a Monty Python sketch, but for 45 minutes Spurs’ slovenly work gave cowboy builders a good name. They were booed off at the interval and the kitchen sink came too late rescue a point.
If Big Ange wants to know why his days are numbered at Tottenham, the case for the prosecution had a field day in the first half.
Even when Spurs went through the motions of a fightback, Mathys Tel blazed wildly off-target from eight yards, Richarlison headed wide and Harry Toffolo acrobatically cleared Dejan Kulusevski’s near-post header off the line. Finally they broke through three minutes from time, Richarlison glancing a fine header beyond Matz Sels from Pedro Porro’s cross.
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