10-man Spurs blank Forest 2-0 in EPL

NOTTINGHAM, England (AP):

Dejan Kulusevski set up a goal and scored another as Tottenham gained ground on the top four by beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 in the English Premier League (EPL) yesterday.

The Sweden midfielder collected goalkeeper Matt Turner’s sloppy clearance and fired through the United States international’s hands from a tight angle in the 65th minute.

Earlier, Kulusevski sent a cross for Richarlison to head into the net in first-half stoppage time.

Spurs played with 10 men after the 70th when Yves Bissouma was red-carded for a studs-up foul on Ryan Yates.

They have won two in a row after snapping a five-game winless slide on Sunday with a 4-1 win over Newcastle, and were level on points with fourth-place Manchester City. City led on goal difference ahead of their game against Crystal Palace today.

Forest manager Steve Cooper will surely face more pressure after picking up just one point in the last six games. Forest have one win in their past 13 matches. They are in 16th place, five points above the relegation zone.

The home team briefly thought it equalised through Anthony Elanga from close range just before the hour mark, but he was ruled offside through VAR.

Minutes later, it was 2-0. After Kulusevski’s goal, Turner pounded the turf with both hands, lowered his head and covered his face.

Turner made an early stop on Son Heung-min’s shot but couldn’t get to Kulusevski’s left-footed in-swinging cross from the right side in first-half stoppage time. Richarlison rose high over a defender and headed it home from close range.

Spurs winger Brennan Johnson, a Forest academy graduate, was subbed off in the 32nd after taking a blow to the head. The Wales international joined Tottenham this summer on a US$60 million transfer, which is a club-record sale for Forest.