ENGLAND forgotten man Jesse Lingard was 10-man Nottingham Forest’s Carabao Cup hero as they stunned Tottenham.
Lingard scored his FIRST Forest goal since his summer arrival, having already made the other for Renan Lodi, on a night to forget for Spurs.
Their patchy form under Antonio Conte continued on a night where the biggest positive – for Gareth Southgate at least – was England skipper Harry Kane coming through 59 minutes unscathed the night before the Three Lions’ World Cup squad is announced.
That ship has surely sailed for Lingard but this was a display which will give him and Premier League bottom side Forest cause for optimism.
Victory here made it four games unbeaten for them at home, while Spurs have now won just TWO of their last seven games.
And Forest even had to finish the job with 10 men after Orel Mangala saw red late on.
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Forest made nine changes from Saturday’s team that drew with Brentford – but they still made the brighter start.
And they almost took a ninth-minute lead in bizarre circumstances.
Taiwo Awoniyi twisted to work space for a shot, only for Davinson Sanchez to get a toe in ahead of him.
But the defender’s clearance rebounded off the Forest striker and struck the left post with Fraser Forster flat-footed.
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Spurs had their keeper to thank when he showed fine reflexes to deny Joe Worrall from close range.
Out-of-sorts Spurs offered little threat in what was a tame opening half hour in which Kane barely broke sweat.
But they did offer more as the break approached, with Ivan Perisic their chief creator.
First, Eric Dier headed over a corner from the Croatian.
And soon afterwards the ex-Inter Milan man’s teasing cross found Matt Doherty, who saw a drilled effort beaten away by Wayne Hennessey.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg suffered a Wold Cup scare when the Denmark midfielder was replaced at half-time – minutes after a collision with Forest duo Lingard and Lodi.
Forest were once again quick out of the blocks with Lingard seeing a fiercely struck effort beaten away by Forster.
And the goal they’d been threatening finally arrived in the 50th minute.
Lingard has come in for some justifiable flak for his Forest form since his much-feted summer arrival.
But he looked like a man with the bit between his teeth here.
First, he claimed an assist when Forest worked the ball from left to right with Lingard sliding to toe possession into Lodi’s path.
The on-loan defender then left Sanchez for dead as he cut inside superbly before wrapping his foot around a wonderful curling effort inside the right post.
And seven minutes later Lingard had a goal of his own.
Ex-Spurs man Serge Aurier found Sam Surridge at the back post and he headed back across goal for Lingard to nod home.
It was no more than Forest deserved for their efforts.
Kane was hooked just before the hour mark – prompting some ironic cheers from the home support.
Djed Spence – a Forest promotion hero last season before he joined Spurs in the summer – was given a warm reception by the home crowd when he was introduced as Conte tried to turn the game around.
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But it was one-way traffic by that point with Reds sub Brennan Johnson denied by Forster’s legs after he raced through.
The only negative for Cooper was the dismissal of midfielder Mangala after he picked up his second yellow for a scissor tackle on Richarlison.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
