Nottingham Forest 0-0 Tottenham: Williams has winner ruled out in scrappy draw

Neco Williams had a potential winner ruled out for Nottingham Forest, who played out a 0-0 draw with Tottenham in the Premier League.

Both sides struggled to create clear-cut chances, but it looked like Forest had found the breakthrough after Williams' brave attempt to head it over the line, but they were denied due to a handball.

Omar Marmoush had Spurs' best opportunities, finding an opening in either half, but Roberto De Zerbi's side are still waiting for their first league goal of 2026-27.

After a cagey opening to the match, Murillo swept a volley high over the bar from a recycled corner before James McAtee tamely shot straight at Antonin Kinsky following a blistering counter-attack.

But Marmoush had the first clear-cut opportunity after getting goalside of Williams, but he flashed his shot just wide of the post while one-on-one with Matz Sels.

Forest continued to up the pressure in the first half, and Jair Cunha fired just over before Morgan Gibbs-White aimed straight at Kinsky after racing in behind Spurs when it looked easier to score.

Micky van de Ven headed wide as Spurs wasted corner after corner in the opening stages of the second half, but the defining moment came 66 minutes in.

Gibbs-White raced in behind the visitors' defence once more and saw a low shot loop up off Kinsky. Sandro Tonali missed the ball as he attempted to clear and Williams threw himself onto it, bundling it over the line. However, it hit his hand before crossing the line, with the decision overturned following a VAR review.

Marmoush blazed over late on after being played in on goal by Kinsky – though Mohammed Kudus had been in a great position to convert had he chosen to play him in – and neither side could find a late breakthrough.

The wait goes on for De Zerbi

It was clear Forest felt hard done by at the end of the match, with only the finest of margins denying Oliver Glasner his first win in charge of the Tricky Trees, though they have now registered back-to-back draws against Liverpool and Spurs.

But De Zerbi will have his concerns; despite walking away from the City Ground with their first point of the season, Spurs have not scored in the Premier League this season. 

They have failed to have a shot on target in the first half of four of De Zerbi's 10 Premier League games, with only Aston Villa failing to do so on more occasions in that timeframe (five).

And that trend continued in the second half. Spurs had 12 shots overall without testing Sels, who was making his 100th Forest appearance, despite accumulating 1.57 expected goals (xG).

Forest, by contrast, also had 12 shots worth 0.65 xG, but got two on target.

It is the first time since November 2021 that Spurs have endured a run of three straight goalless games, while this is only the second season (after 1974-75) that they have failed to score in their opening three matches of a league season.