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Your weekly briefing on Tottenham, featuring team news and expert analysis from Sam Tabuteau
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Tottenham earned their first league point of the season as they secured a scrappy 0-0 draw away to Nottingham Forest.
In a game that lacked quality and clear-cut chances, Spurs held on to earn a rare clean sheet and an invaluable point.
Forest, meanwhile, will feel aggrieved not to have stolen the win after Neco Williams was adjudged to have handled the ball when bundling home on the goal line in the second-half.
Spurs stop the rot with battling performance:
It may not have been the result Spurs came for, but they at least put a stop to their losing run and ensured Forest were unable to make it four wins on the bounce against them.
This result and performance could in time prove a useful building block for De Zerbi as his side showed guts and concentration to hold onto what they had.
Spurs have dictated games with more authority than this and still ended up on the losing side, so to hurdle that particular mental barrier and earn their first clean sheet of the season is important.
De Zerbi’s side were imperfect – scrappy in possession and at times chaotic in defence – but they did enough to get their first point on the board, and that has to act as encouragement.
They fought admirably in the middle of the park and would have had something to show for their endeavour if they displayed more poise in the final third.
This performance may not live long in the memory, but it showed a team fighting in the same direction and committed to turning things around after a difficult start to the season.
Spurs’ scoreless run continues despite earning their first point of the season:
Roberto De Zerbi and Oliver Glasner were engaged in a war of words in the build-up to this afternoon’s clash, in essence suggesting they could predict exactly how the other was going to set up their team.
