Out of the cups and Tottenham slipped back into the groove. As if to prove Antonio Conte’s point that the weight of expectation simply suffocates his players whenever there is a trace of jeopardy in the air.
As ever, Harry Kane led out of the doldrums with two goals in the first half to put his team in control and ease himself past the 20-goal barrier in the Premier League for the sixth time in nine seasons.
The second of them came from the penalty spot, his first since the one missed for England in the World Cup quarter-finals, in Qatar.
Heung-min Son made it 3-0 in the second half before surviving a late flurry by Nottingham Forest, who pulled one back through Joe Worrall and saw a late penalty from Andre Ayew saved by Fraser Forster.
Spurs reinforced their position in fourth on a day when Liverpool’s recovery lost momentum with a defeat at Bournemouth.
There was no fury aimed at Conte, who had accused fans of stifling his team with their impatience. Rather the game unfolded amid an air of resignation.
The damage is done by the previous three games, defeats at Sheffield United and Wolves, and draw with AC Milan. Three games in a week, featuring no goals and two cup exits to extend the wait for a trophy to at least one more year.
What they needed was a nice straightforward home game and for the most part Forest, with one away win all season, were compliant visitors.
Keylor Navas was retrieving the ball from his net inside three minutes, beaten by a ferocious angled drive from Richarlison, handed the chance to repair the damage of his post Milan interview and soon into the action.
Conte had accused the Brazil forward of selfishness for bemoaning his bad luck and “s*** season” as the team crashed out of Europe. In fact, the boss went further, saying it was true because his season had not been good, with no Premier League goals since his move from Everton last summer.
Richarlison thought his fortune had changed when he collected a clipped pass from Oliver Skipp and slammed it past Forest ‘keeper Navas. He wheeled away in celebration with a finger to his lips. Then the VAR intervened and, after a wait of more than two minutes, ruled the goal out for offside.
Still, the early drama gave Spurs impetus after the midweek gloom, as did Liverpool’s lunchtime defeat at Bournemouth. And it seemed to justify Conte’s decision to select Richarlison ahead of Dejan Kulusevski.
Then Kane took over, opening the scoring in the 19th minute with a textbook header. Climbing high from a standing start, towering over former teammate Serge Aurier, he planted the ball back across goal to give Navas no chance.
It was his 19th Premier League goal of the season and the eighth with his head. The cross was supplied by Pedro Porro, the January signing from Sporting who was starting his first home game for Spurs and offering glimpses of his creative talents from wing-back.
Kane’s second came from a penalty, awarded when Worrall cut down Richarlison in the penalty box at the end of a slick Tottenham move, culminating in Kane’s exemplary touch and pass through the legs of Forest centre-half Felipe.
There was no dispute. Kane gathered ball and his nerves and fired the spot kick high down the centre as Navas dived out of the way obligingly.
Forest did not summon a shot until first half stoppage time when a long-range drive by Jonjo Shelvey deflected wide.
Steve Cooper made two changes during the interval and tweaked the shape of his team, and there were flickers of encouragement with efforts wide by Shelvey and Felipe. Brennan Johnson forced Forster into a fine save with a low shot on the break before Spurs stretched further ahead through Son.
Richarlison sprinted clear down the right and, at the second attempt, his cross found Son, who was able to evade Aurier without too much trouble and finish low, through Shelvey’s legs to beat Navas.
Cooper tinkered again with changes. Chris Wood came on and went off injured within three minutes, and there were chances at both ends in a fluent and open contest.
Forster made a terrific reflex save to turn over a header by Aurier from a corner and, at the other end, Navas denied Ben Davies and Son.
Worrell pulled a goal back with a header from a corner flicked on by Felipe to leave Forster punching thin air and they were awarded a penalty by the VAR when Kulusevski handled the ball on the edge of the area. Ayew drove it down the centre and Forster made the block with his feet.
