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Tottenham suffered a potentially seismic 3-0 defeat to Premier League relegation rivals Nottingham Forest on Sunday, failing to rise to a rallying call from their massed ranks of fans.
Thousands lined the streets to cheer the squad before the crunch fixture in north London and there was a crackling atmosphere in the ground as kick-off approached.
Spurs bossed the first half but Forest took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Brazilian forward Igor Jesus headed home a Neco Williams corner.
Forest doubled their lead just after the hour mark when Morgan Gibbs-White finished under Guglielmo Vicario and substitute Taiwo Awoniyi compounded Tottenham’s misery with a late strike.
The vital win for Vitor Pereira’s men lifts them above Spurs, who are now just one point and one place above the bottom three.
Last year’s Europa League winners are staring at the nightmare prospect of relegation from the top tier of English football for the first time since 1977 unless they can arrest their steep decline. Spurs, led by interim boss Igor Tudor, came into Sunday’s game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without a win in the Premier League since late December.
But they were buoyed by last week’s 1-1 draw at Liverpool and a midweek win against Atletico Madrid, even though they exited the Champions League on aggregate.
Fan groups set up a initiative ahead of the game called “Show Up, Sing Up, Stay Up”, calling for supporters to rally.
Fireworks were let off and a section of fans chanted the name of former boss Mauricio Pochettino before the team bus was serenaded with chants of “Come on you Spurs” as white and blue smoke filled the air.
A message on the stadium screens from captain Cristian Romero said: “We’ll fight for everything, all together.”
Forest, who started the day just outside the drop zone, looked the more dangerous team in the early minutes but Tottenham settled and started to enjoy the bulk of the possession, with Richarlison heading wide.
However, the home side struggled to create clear-cut chances and paid the price when Jesus put Forest ahead in the 45th minute, meeting Williams’ corner with a bullet header.
Spurs came within a whisker of levelling at the other end but Forest goalkeeper Matz Selz touched Mathys Tel’s powerful shot onto the crossbar in the dying seconds of the opening period.
As the half wore on the home fans among the crowd of 61,519 became increasingly edgy.
And they were shocked into silence when Gibbs-White, a target for Spurs in last summer’s transfer window, slotted home in the 62nd minute from Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross.
Tudor made a number of attacking changes, bringing on Randal Kolo Muani and Xavi Simons, but to no avail.
Awoniyi’s goal in the 87th minute sent home fans scurrying for the exits.
The only chink of light for Spurs on Sunday was a 2-0 defeat for West Ham against Aston Villa, which leaves the Hammers in the bottom three.
Meanwhile, Sunderland compounded a miserable week for Newcastle as Bryan Brobbey’s 90th minute winner secured a 2-1 victory for the visitors in the Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday.
Humbled 7-2 by Barcelona to exit the Champions League in midweek, Newcastle’s hopes of European football next season were dented after Sunderland came from behind.
Another defeat to their local rivals will sting ever more as the Black Cats extended a club record unbeaten league run against Newcastle to 11 games.
Sunderland’s victory also takes them up to 11th and above the Magpies in the table. A famous victory was soured by a report of racist abuse aimed at Lutsharel Geertruida which briefly halted the game in the second half.
The Premier League said a full investigation will take place after the Dutch defender reported the incident to the officials.
In the first meeting between the sides at St. James’ Park for 10 years it looked like Newcastle were finally about to settle some scores.
Agence France-Presse
