Harry Kane double seals victory over Nottingham Forest
Harry Kane was at the double for Tottenham Hotspur, who held off constant Nottingham Forest pressure to take all three points on Sunday afternoon.
Antonio Conte’s men produced a relatively poor performance in the East Midlands, with a lack of urgency seeing a spirited Forest dominate possession and carve out some presentable chances. But the hosts were simply unable to finish, and endured two key periods of looking susceptible on the break.
In both of those spells, Spurs capitalized. Dejan Kulusevski, one of Spurs’ few bright sparks, broke through the heart of the Forest backline before teeing up Kane for the early opener. With nine minutes left on the clock, the North Londoners killed the game with Richarlison’s superb outside-of-the-boot cross finding Kane in space at the back post, for the England captain to stoop down and head in.
Kane was making amends for earlier spurning a chance of a second goal, with his second-half penalty having been saved by Dean Henderson. The former Manchester United goalkeeper stepped up with a big spot-kick save for the second game here in succession.
Unlike against West Ham United, it wasn’t enough, though. It leaves Forest with four points from as many games, while Spurs rise to 10, level with reigning champions Manchester City and a couple behind leaders Arsenal.
Plenty of promise for Forest – but a focal point is needed
The transfer fee of Morgan Gibbs-White, potentially rising to £42.5m, raised plenty of eyebrows over the last fortnight – but there is no doubt he is the man for this Forest side.
The versatile attacker was brilliant against Spurs, particularly in the first half, causing problems for all three opposing centre-backs as well as Ivan Perisic. He spotted balls nobody else did, and generally looked a level above many of his teammates – which was a feat in itself, after such a strong team performance.
He dovetailed well with both Jesse Lingard and Brennan Johnson, with the trio interchanging positions throughout. They were slightly more weighted towards the right flank, almost …
