Tottenham Hotspur picked up a crucial victory on Sunday night, beating Nottingham Forest 3-1 as they took advantage of Aston Villa’s slip-up.
Tottenham saw Villa throw away a 2-0 lead at home to Brentford on Saturday, eventually drawing 3-3 having managed to fall 3-2 behind.
Those dropped points gave Tottenham a real chance to leapfrog Villa into fourth place – and they took that opportunity against Forest.
Murillo’s own goal put Tottenham in front as the Brazilian turned Timo Werner’s cross into his own net, before Chris Wood equalised from a slick counter attack.
Spurs lost their way after that goal and both Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur were brought on at the break to try and bring some more control to the Tottenham performance.
That certainly worked and Micky van de Ven put Tottenham back in front, smashing a powerful strike into the roof of the net.
Pedro Porro added number three to give Tottenham a comfortable win in the end, but it required that big step up in the second half.
Guglielmo Vicario on Timo Werner
This was a fine evening for Tottenham loanee Werner, who created the opening goal with some fine wing play.
Many defenders expect Werner to cut inside onto his stronger right foot, but he has made himself a real threat by driving on the outside and getting the ball across goal.
Tottenham created a goal in that exact manner against West Ham United and Werner was at it again on Sunday.
The German is making a real impact in the Tottenham attack right now and he seems to have picked up a new nickname too.
Werner took to Instagram to celebrate a ‘great performance’ whilst congratulating teammates Van de Ven and Porro on their goals.
Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario responded, stating ‘yes gnocchi come on’, seemingly revealing his nickname for Werner.
In England we may know gnocchi as being an Italian dumpling, but in Italian slang, gnocchi can also mean ‘goof’ or ‘idiot’, or even ‘handsome’, but only Vicario can tell us which one he was using with Werner.
Werner seems to have fitted in well at Tottenham and the camaraderie with teammates like Vicario will only make him even more determined to earn a permanent move to Spurs.
Tottenham can turn Werner’s loan move from RB Leipzig permanent this summer and he is really making his case for an extended stay in North London.
Tough fixtures to come
Werner will be hoping to help Tottenham qualify for the Champions League and Sunday’s result certainly helps.
Tottenham do have some huge – and difficult – games to come though and the push for a top-four place could hinge on the next few outings.
Tottenham’s next five games are against Newcastle United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.
The three title contenders are in there as well as Newcastle and Chelsea sides who have disappointed a little this season but remain dangerous.
Spurs end the season against Burnley and Sheffield United, two games Tottenham would be expected to win, but points will be needed in these next five games too.
It’s a tricky challenge but Tottenham have taken points off Newcastle, City, Arsenal and Liverpool already this season and will back themselves to do it again.
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