“I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes”- Alan Shearer in shock at what he saw a Nottingham Forest player do Vs Tottenham this week
Nottingham Forest went to North London on Monday night and pinched all three points from Tottenham Hotspur to bolster the hopes of Champions League football.
The Reds had stuttered in recent weeks, following defeats to Aston Villa and Everton and the pundits had begun sharpening their knives for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men.
However, the Forest head coach is made of stern stuff and he went to his former club with a point to prove and his sights set very much on claiming a big three points.
Forest won 2-1 courtesy of goals from Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood, with Richarlison’s goal three minutes from time proving nothing other than a consolation effort.
Some solid defensive work was evident at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Dejan Kulusevski praising Matz Sels for his efforts.
Nottingham Forest player hailed by Alan Shearer
The Reds sprung a surprise on Tottenham with Espirito Santo choosing to start with Harry Toffolo at left-back for his first start in the Premier League this season.
Espirito Santo was keen to use his squad with the FA Cup semi-final coming up against Manchester City and that led to a rare chance for Toffolo.
The player did extremely well up against Wilson Odobert and then later, Brennan Johnson, making a superb goal-line clearance to deny Kulusevski.
Gary Lineker raved about the moment of magic on The Rest is Football podcast and thought it was a really special clearance.
He said: “A shout out to Toffolo for the clearance off the line. Boy, oh boy, that was special, wasn’t it? It was some clearance.
Alan Shearer agreed with Lineker and he added to the clearance, suggesting it left him stunned that he was able to clear it at all.
Shearer added: “Oh yeah, it was incredible, wasn’t it. It was unbelievable how he got to that, wasn’t it? I couldn’t believe it.”
Harry Toffolo stats vs Tottenham
This was a performance that has now given Espirito Santo a bit of a conundrum ahead of a big FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City.
Toffolo played like he’d never been away, and although he admitted he was exhausted afterwards, he showcased what a brilliant professional he’s been at Forest.
This could be his final year at the City Ground, with Toffolo’s contract up in the summer and given his age, he might seek a move to play more frequently.
Toffolo deserves the chance to continue in the team against City on Sunday and with Neco Williams banned and Ola Aina injured, he might just be granted another Wembley outing.
