It was billed as the game neither side could afford to lose — and Tottenham Hotspur lost it. Badly.
A meeting of the teams in 16th and 17th place in the Premier League was always going to be racked by tension at this stage of the season, but it was visitors Nottingham Forest who held their nerve to secure a precious 3-0 win that plunged Spurs even deeper into trouble.
They remain outside the bottom three courtesy of West Ham’s defeat at Aston Villa in a match that kicked off at the same time on Sunday afternoon, but with daunting games to come and with no league win in 2026, Spurs’ top-flight status and Igor Tudor’s position as their interim head coach are both in severe jeopardy.
We analyse the main talking points.
Is Tudor’s time up?
There were people up lamp posts and sitting on the roofs of bus stops when Tottenham’s team coach arrived at the stadium. Thousands of fans lined the streets to show the players their support and smoke from flares wafted through the air, while inside the ground, the South Stand was transformed into a sea of flags and banners.
It felt like Spurs were about to play a cup final — and the fans certainly did their bit. Unfortunately for Tottenham, once the football portion of the afternoon started, it all fell apart in depressingly familiar fashion.
Igor Tudor is facing an uncertain future at Spurs (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
After successive positive performances over the previous week against Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, when expectations were low, Tudor will now come under huge scrutiny again.
Spurs started the game positively, with Mathys Tel a constant threat, but they never recovered from Igor Jesus’s header to make it 1-0 just before half-time.
Tudor reacted by bringing on Lucas Bergvall and Destiny Udogie for Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence, but the changes did not work. Bergvall was, understandably, slightly sluggish on his second appearance since recovering from ankle surgery, while Udogie looked threatening going forward but was sloppy when defending.
Ultimately, Tudor made a huge mistake with his team selection. Xavi Simons, who scored twice against Atletico and has been one of Spurs’ best players in the past few months, was left on the bench and did not appear until the 67th minute, shortly after Morgan Gibbs-White had doubled Forest’s lead.
Taiwo Awoniyi’s goal to make it 3-0 in the 88th minute prompted Spurs supporters to start flooding out of the stadium. The few who remained booed. What started as a sunny day filled with optimism turned into another nightmare.
Tottenham do not play again until April 12 because of the two-week international break that begins tonight and then FA Cup quarter-finals weekend, after which they have seven games to save their Premier League status and avoid a first relegation since 1977.
If they are going to roll the managerial dice again, now is the time to do it.
Jay Harris
How did Gibbs-White haunt Spurs?
When the Forest fans began chanting the name of their club’s owner Evangelos Marinakis midway through the second half, it was very much inspired by the man who had just put them 2-0 in front.
Back in the summer, Marinakis had flown out to Forest’s training camp in Portugal in an effort to personally persuade Morgan Gibbs-White to reject the advances of Tottenham and sign a new deal instead. Spurs believed they had activated a release clause in Gibbs-White’s contract but Forest were determined not to lose one of the most talismanic figures in their squad.
Gibbs-White ended up staying and, eight months later, of course it was he who forced home the second goal of the afternoon to in effect seal Forest’s triumph in a game that could have a huge influence on this season’s fight to avoid relegation.
Morgan Gibbs-White celebrates scoring Forest’s second goal (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Persuading Gibbs-White to remain their player had held significance long before today, with the Forest captain having contributed by far the most Premier League goals among their squad this season.
This was his ninth top-flight goal of a campaign in which no other Forest player has contributed more than three league goals. None has been more vital than this one, which actually came amid a relatively quiet afternoon for the Forest No 10.
But the 26-year-old stepped up when it mattered, to leave Spurs wondering what might have been.
Paul Taylor
How did Forest finally fire from a set piece?
Not only did Igor Jesus find a good time to score his third Premier League goal, but Forest found a good time to rediscover their threat from set pieces.
He has scored 13 goals across all competitions since his £16million summer move from Botafogo of Brazil, but has struggled to find the net in the top flight, having done so just twice before today. But a slight shift in their corner routine helped Vitor Pereira’s side make the breakthrough in north London.
Jesus himself won a second corner in quick succession when his acrobatic shot was saved in equally acrobatic fashion by Guglielmo Vicario, and when Neco Williams delivered an enticing ball to the far post, the Brazilian was well positioned to head home in a simple but emphatic manner.
Igor Jesus heads in Forest’s first goal (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Elliot Anderson is Forest’s regular corner taker, but Wales international Williams showed quality in his delivery to carve out the opportunity.
Forest had also posed a threat from corners against Midtjylland in Thursday’s Europa League last-16 triumph, where Dilane Bakwa had looked the part. But while the winger was back on the bench here, it was Williams who stepped up to be the catalyst for the vital first goal in this relegation battle.
Even now, Forest’s record is hardly prolific. No Premier League club have scored fewer times from set pieces this season and, while they have fared a little better from corners specifically, there is still significant scope for improvement.
Goals from set pieces 2025-26
With work still to do in the relegation battle, this may be the template for Forest to follow over the remaining matches.
Paul Taylor
Why was Xavi Simons left out?
It took a while for Simons to settle at Spurs after he joined from RB Leipzig towards the end of the summer transfer window. Tottenham’s then head coach Thomas Frank rotated the 22-year-old Dutchman between the left wing and central attacking midfield. His technical quality has never been in question, but he has struggled to cope with the physicality of English football.
Since he scored his first goal for Spurs in a 2-0 defeat of Brentford in December, which is the last time they won a league game at home, Simons has been a rare bright spark. The only person at the club who seems to doubt his ability is Tudor — and that had dire consequences against Forest.
Tudor’s job when he replaced the sacked Frank last month was to boost the squad’s confidence, but he clearly does not have a lot of faith in Simons. The Netherlands international started his first two league games in charge and has been forced to accept cameos from the bench in Tottenham’s three matches since.
Spurs have nobody to connect the midfield and attack when he does not start. They become over-reliant on Mathys Tel. The pair were excellent against Atletico on Wednesday, so why did Tudor not reunite them for Forest?
Xavi Simons had too little time to make an impact (Carlos Jasso/AFP via Getty Images)
The home crowd applauded when Simons came on as a substitute in the 63rd minute. He drew a few fouls and drove Spurs forward, but the damage was done.
Whatever happens this season going forward, he has to be an integral part of their starting XI.
Jay Harris
What next for Spurs?
Sunday, April 12: Sunderland (Away), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET
What next for Forest?
Thursday, April 9: Porto (Away), Europa League quarter-final first leg, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
