Richarlison, Tottenham rebound in win 3-1 versus Nottingham Forest

After a challenging run of form and some controversial comments from players and staff, Tottenham Hotspur rebounded big-time against Nottingham Forest with a 3-1 win.

That last fortnight has not been a kind one to Tottenham Hotspur. Three consecutive games without a goal were accompanied by three straight losses, sending Spurs out of two of their remaining three competitions in short order. Following the most recent loss to AC Milan, which sent Spurs out of the Champions League, voices of concern and complaint started to arise within Spurs.

First, Richarlison was quoted in a Brazilian outlet complaining about being benched for two strong performances. Then those remarks were followed up by a scathing press conference from Antonio Conte, ripping into fans, the club, and anyone in LIlywhite.

The response would be critical for this season and beyond in the aftermath of such condemning commentary coming from within the dressing room. With an opportunity to fold or fight, Tottenham Hotspur showed us the latter we had been waiting for.

Richarlison made an impact on Tottenham

From the very start of the match, Richy was working to make an impact for Spurs. It was not even five minutes into the game when Richarlison’s influence was felt after a lovely ball over the top of the defense from Oliver Skipp. Richy ran in and had a superb finish past Keylor Navas in goal for Forest. Unfortunately for Pombo and Spurs, after a long wait, Richarlison was deemed offside by VAR.

Despite the goal being chaulked off, the action impacted the Forest psyche as Spurs started to open them up.

Brazilian played a role in all three Tottenham goals

Richarlison was officially credited with one assist; however, he played a big part in the first three Spurs goals. On Spurs first goal, Richy beat his man in the box and got off a cross, which was deflected back to Pedro Porro, who then played a pretty chip to Harry Kane for the opener. Had Richarlison not beaten his man, Porro wouldn’t have had that opportunity.

In Kane’s second goal, Pombo got a touch on the ball in the box in front of Joe Worrall and drew the penalty, which our talisman converted.

Then on the third goal, Richy got in down the right flank, only to have his cross again blocked. This time, the deflected ball came back to the Brazilian, who then lofted a sweet ball to Heung-min Son, who finished for our third goal.

Forest pulled one back, Kane got the game ball for his brace, and Fraser Forster had a big, late penalty save. Still, there is no doubt that after talking a big game midweek, Richarlison brought a big game at the weekend, and it made the difference in a critical 3-1 Tottenham win that leaves Spurs in fourth place in the Premier League table.