Arsenal overcame a sluggish first-half performance to cut the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to two points after a 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest.
The Gunners looked toothless in the first half, but rallied to register three big points thanks to goals from Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka.
The result leaves them on the coattails of Liverpool, who can extend their lead back to five points against Chelsea on Wednesday night.
Forest had no intention of going for the win in a pragmatic approach deployed by Nuno Espirito Santo, but they made a game of it late on as Taiwo Awoniyi slammed home in the 89th minute.
Arsenal saw it out to end a three-game losing streak at the City Ground and exorcise the ghosts of last season’s defeat, which saw their title challenge come to an end.
Forest’s situation at the foot of the Premier League is looking precarious, as they sit two points above the relegation zone with the threat of a points deduction for breaking financial rules hanging over them.
It is not in Nuno’s make-up to play an expansive game and his plan was to put men behind the ball and ask Arsenal the question of whether they could break them down.
The first half provided an answer of a resounding no, as for all their possession and territorial advantage the Gunners lacked a cutting edge to trouble Forest.
They had seven shots on target but none of them tested their former team-mate Matt Turner in the Forest goal, with Saka’s snapshot which deflected off Murillo and just wide the nearest they came to breaking the deadlock in the opening 45 minutes.
Forest offered next to nothing as an attacking force, registering just one pass in the final third in the opening half-hour, with Danilo’s drive over the crossbar from distance their only real foray forward.
The Gunners began to turn the screw after the second half and put Forest’s goal under serious threat for the first time.
Turner was forced into his first save when he palmed away Saka’s deflected effort with a strong hand before their best moment came four minutes later.
An intricate move involving Saka and Martin Odegaard led to Jesus being played in but he smashed his effort from a narrow angle into a post.
Eventually Arsenal’s pressure told as they took the lead in the 65th minute, though Turner will not want to see it again.
Forest switched off from Zinchenko’s throw-in and Jesus burst to the byline where his toe-poked shot went through Turner’s legs and into the back of the net.
Turner has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after a number of high-profile mistakes, but has been backed by Nuno, himself a former goalkeeper, though this may change things.
It was 2-0 seven minutes later after a breakaway goal. Gonzalo Montiel fluffed a clearance on the halfway line, skewing straight to Odegaard, who set Jesus free and he picked out Saka at the far post, with the England international making no mistake.
Forest had rarely threatened but Awoniyi, making his first appearance since November, converted after William Saliba’s mistake late on, though they could find a leveller.
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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