N Forest 0 – 2 Tottenham

Harry Kane scored a goal in each half, and had a penalty saved, as Tottenham secured a hard-fought 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Super Sunday, with the striker praising his team-mates for “grinding out” another three points.

The England captain scored the 200th league goal of his professional career when he rolled in a low shot after being located by Dejan Kulusevski in the fifth minute.

Kane was thwarted from the penalty spot – for the first time in 22 attempts in all competitions – by Forest goalkeeper Dean Henderson after the break.

He did, however, atone for the miss inside the final 10 minutes by heading in Richarlison’s superb cross. It was his 187th Premier League goal, which elevated him to joint-third on the all-time scoring chart, behind only Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer.

The win for Antonio Conte’s team – their third in four league outings – moves them above Brighton into third in the table. Forest, meanwhile, drop to 14th.

“We didn’t play our best, especially in the first half,” Kane told Sky Sports afterwards. “We had to dig in and there have been a couple of games like that this season. But we could do better.

“We’ve had a great pre-season, we’re feeling fit but we’re not quite showing it yet. We are still winning games and becoming stronger as the game goes on. It’s a long season and we’re grinding out wins.”

How Kane stole the show once again

It had been 23 years since the two teams had faced off at the City Ground, with a Steffan Iversen goal enough to seal a Spurs win back in 1999 – and despite Forest taking the game to their opponents from the first whistle, a landmark goal from Kane handed Spurs the advantage.

Kulusevski made a run through the middle and picked out the striker, who dragged Steve Cook out of position and nonchalantly rolled home, with the goal moving him to within one goal of Andy Cole’s tally of 187 Premier League strikes.

Both Heung-Min Son and Kane bent shots off target as the visitors endeavoured to double their lead, but Forest dominated territory and possession for much of the first half; Brennan Johnson looked a particular threat down the right, with a swerving effort from Lewis O’Brien batted away by Hugo Lloris.

Ryan Yates planted a free header the wrong side of the upright as the hosts looked to fly out of the blocks after the break, though the tide almost turned completely when Spurs were awarded a penalty after Cook wildly swung his arm at a cross – and avoided a red card after a VAR review.

Kane confidently stepped up to strike the spot-kick, but Henderson dived to his right to make a brilliant diving save to deny him a second of the afternoon – and celebrated with the fans as though he had scored a goal himself.

Forest continued to believe in their ability to level proceedings, but without a shot on target in the second half, the search for an equaliser would prove to be futile, particularly after Kane headed in a clever cross from Richarlison after the hosts’ backline had switched off.

Man of the match – Harry Kane

Another week, another landmark for Harry Kane. The Tottenham striker continues to cement his status as one of the finest the Premier League has ever seen, with now just Rooney and Shearer having scored more than him in the history of the competition.

He clinically finished his first of the afternoon and then kept his composure to add a second with some good movement in the box, unfazed by his rare miss from 12 yards out.

‘Forest not just in the Premier League to take part’

Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper:

“I’m disappointed we lost the game, that’s always the most important thing. I liked our performance in terms of the build-up and territory, but what we didn’t do was threaten their goal enough for the amount of good positions that we got in. In the end, the reason you want to play the football you play is to score goals.

“It was a great finish, the first goal, but I thought we were unlucky with the press as the ricochet came off Lewis’ shin and put Kane in the position that he got in. You work all week to try and stop that, so we were a bit unlucky. With the second goal, it got a bit open-ended when we were trying to get back into the game and I accept that we gave too many counter-attacks away – but we were trying to get into the game, that’s the mentality we want. But we’ve left our markers free in the box.

“There were loads of good things to take out of the game and I’m not going to be narrow-minded enough not to see that, but at the same time, we’re not here just to take part. We don’t just want to play well, we want to win and we haven’t.”

Conte: This group of players are improving – but must continue to do so

Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte:

“The game was tough. For me, it was the first time I’ve played in this stadium and it’s not easy for the players, with the noise around the pitch. In the first half, I think we suffered; they won many duels but, at the same time, we tried, in every moment, to exploit the space and create problems.

“I asked them at half-time to move the ball, to pass more with our midfielders than in the first half. We didn’t do it and it was easy for Nottingham Forest to press. In the second half, we controlled the game much better. I have seen good things.

“I think this group of players are improving in resilience, learning how to suffer together and to be compact. At the same time, the boys know very well that we have to continue to improve, to play the ball more quickly. At the end, I’m satisfied with the three points.”

Spot-kick streak ends for Kane, but history beckons

• Tottenham’s Harry Kane has now scored against 31 of the 32 clubs he has appeared against in the Premier League (97 per cent), failing only against Brentford. He also moved level with Andy Cole on 187 Premier League goals, behind only Alan Shearer (260) and Wayne Rooney (208) in the competition’s all-time top scorers list.
• Harry Kane scored the 200th (and 201st) league goals of his senior club career, with 187 of these coming for Tottenham in the Premier League (7 for Millwall in Championship, 5 for Leyton Orient in League One, 2 for Leicester in Championship).
• Nottingham Forest’s Dean Henderson has only conceded one of the five penalties he has faced in the Premier League (20 per cent), the lowest percentage of any goalkeeper to face at least five spot-kicks in the competition (three saved, one post).
• Harry Kane’s penalty miss ended his run of 15 consecutive spot-kicks scored in the Premier League for Tottenham, with today’s his first to be missed since February 2018 against Liverpool (saved by Loris Karius).

What’s next?

Manchester City host Nottingham Forest at 7.30pm on Wednesday in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium. Tottenham visit West Ham on the same evening at the London Stadium; kick-off 7.45pm.