Player ratings: Nottingham Forest 0-2 Tottenham as 10-man Spurs survive at City Ground

On Friday night, Tottenham Hotspur secured a 2-0 triumph over Nottingham Forest, increasing the strains on Steve Cooper.

Despite Spurs dominating the ball, they struggled to control the game during a tough matchup at the City Ground. Yet, Ange Postecoglou's squad displayed strong resilience to secure the win.

The Forest, under Cooper's management, have seen a loss in five of their previous six games. Consequently, they're gradually slipping towards the relegation zone, currently a mere five points away from the bottom three.

Within the initial three minutes, Tottenham nearly took the lead with Dejan Kulusevski setting up Son Heung-min; however, his close-range shot was blocked by Matt Turner's leg.

The Forest strategy was to play defensively and counter-attack the Spurs, with Anthony Elanga being the first to challenge Guglielmo Vicario. The Italian goalkeeper successfully denied the Swedish player's attempt, with the offside flag raised late; however, video replay indicated Elanga could have timed his run immaculately.

Turner was Forest's saving grace again when former teammate Brennan Johnson directed a shot at the goal that was deflected by the American goalie. Ben Davies narrowly missed heading the ball into the net from the subsequent corner.

Ahead of half-time, despite some pressure, Spurs took the lead as Richarlison scored off a well-delivered Kulusevski cross.

Post break, a set piece provided Forest with a chance to threaten, but Willy Boly, who found himself free on the edge of the box thanks to Elanga, shot the ball over the bar.

Nearing the 60-minute mark, Forest seemingly scored as Elanga executed a close-range shot off a Neco Williams cross. However, VAR disproved this, ruling it as offside.

On the other end, a crucial block by Orel Mangala ruled out a Tottenham doubling as Son's attempt on a Pedro Porro pass was thwarted by Turner.

However, Turner couldn't defend against Kulusevski's undeniably strong shot, this coming right after the goalie's failed clearance intercepted by Spurs' number 21.

Following this, with just over twenty minutes to go, Tottenham were forced down to ten players as Yves Bissouma was sent off after a VAR review labeled his tackle unsafe.

Once again, Turner blocked a strong drive from Kulusevski towards near post, as the match escalated in the concluding stages.

An impressive save by Vicario using his left leg against Harry Toffolo's header kept Forest at bay as they desperately sought a goal.

Murillo's last-minute rescue for Forest precluded Tottenham from pulling further ahead as he blocked Porro's attempt at scoring.

Despite a powerful last-ditch effort from Williams that was deflected off the goal post, Tottenham managed to hold their lead and collect the win.