Nottingham Forest gave their fans a Boxing Day treat, dispatching Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the Premier League.
Forest beat Spurs to make it four consecutive league victories for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, moving them into an unthinkable third place in the Premier League table.
The only goal came courtesy of Anthony Elanga, who scored for the third consecutive game after being slipped in beautifully by Morgan Gibbs-White.
A brilliant Matz Sels save kept Forest ahead at halftime, but it was their defense that won them all three points with an immense display in the second half.
Nikola Milenkovic was excellent, but one man in particular received particular plaudits from Sky Sports pundit, Patrick Rowe for his dominating performance.
Murillo of Nottingham Forest celebrates victory during the Premier League match between Brentford and Nottingham Forest at the Gtech Community Stad…
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Sky Sports pundit in awe of Murillo’s performance vs Tottenham
Commenting on Sky Sports’ live text coverage of the game, Rowe made a point of mentioning Murillo specifically given his strong performance in the first half.
Rowe said: “A fairly even game but ultimately, Forest made their chances count. Tottenham went close through Johnson but have been left frustrated by a stoic defensive performance thus far. Special mention to Murillo, he’s worth his weight in gold for this Forest team.”
Murillo kept an in-form Dominic Solanke quiet for the 90 minutes, whilst also being able to defend against Spurs’ many attempted strikes from outside the box in the second period.
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It was obvious to see why Murillo earned a “special mention” from Rowe when analysing his stats from the Tottenham win.
Murillo’s brilliant performance vs Tottenham in numbers
Spurs didn’t attempt to trouble the Forest squad aerially, but Murillo still won his only aerial duel in the contest, alongside all three of the tackles he attempted.
He also made nine clearances, including three headed clearances that came from Spurs’ late set pieces that could’ve proved costly for Forest.
Murillo’s abilities on the ball were also on display when he had the chance, completing two dribbles in the game. Whilst his passing numbers were down in the match at only a 67% success rate, his strength in the defensive aspects showed that he can impress the Forest manager in many ways.
Premier League defensive greats such as Ashley Williams have praised Murillo, with performances like today’s adding to the catalogue for Forest fans to be in awe of.
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