London: Harry Kane’s double lifted Nottingham Forest 2-0 to lift Tottenham to third in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard is under a lot of pressure after his 1-0 loss to West Ham on Sunday.
Antonio Conte’s side have made a strong start to the season. Kane made sure to keep that momentum going at the City Ground.
The England captain put Tottenham ahead with a clinical finish after catching Dejan Kulusevski’s pass just outside the forest area in the fifth minute.
It was Kane’s 200th league goal, including his Tottenham career and loan spells at Millwall, Leicester and Leyton Orient.
Eleven minutes after half-time, Kane wasted an opportunity to extend Tottenham’s lead when Steve Cook handled Ivan Perisic’s cross.
Dean Henderson saved Kane’s penalty for missing a spot in the league for the first time since 2018.
Kane scored his fourth goal of the season in the 81st minute.
Richarlison got the ball back and crossed it for the striker to head into the empty net.
Tottenham, who have won three of their four games, are level on two points with second-placed Manchester City and two points behind leaders Arsenal.
“The match was really tough. It’s not easy to play in this stadium. There’s a lot of noise around the pitch,” said Conte.
“Forrest won a lot of duels, but I thought they did a lot better in controlling the game in the second half.
“Players are learning to improve their resilience, suffer together, and be compact.”
West Ham arrived at Villa Park at the bottom of the table after losing their first three games scoreless.
A goal from Pablo Fornals late in the second half saw West Ham exit the relegation zone waiting to be unmarked.
With 15 minutes remaining, Fornals’ shot was deflected by Villa defender Ezri Konsa and past goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
With defeats to Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Brighton, the Hummers are level on points with Villa, who have lost three of their first four games.
With former Liverpool and England midfielder Gerrard and dressing room turmoil in the news, Villa’s latest setback will bring even more scrutiny to Gerrard.
A League Cup second-round victory over third-tier Bolton mid-week gave Gerrard a little breather.
But Villa fans have become increasingly restless over Gerrard, who has struggled to make a lasting impact since leaving the Rangers last season to replace Dean Smith.
“I have two ears and I hear a lot. I heard the complaints of the fans and the last time I checked my ears were still working, so yes I understand everything,” Gerrard said. rice field.
“I’ve been in the game long enough. Of course I understand because if we lose three games out of four, it’s not the start the supporters wanted, and certainly not the start I wanted.
“We certainly share the frustration of our supporters and no one is more frustrated than me.”
“Arrange them properly”
With matches between Premier League leaders Arsenal and champions Manchester City looming as the next two games, Villa could be in more serious trouble by early September.
West Ham manager David Moyes added: “Performance was the result, not the most important thing today.”
At Molineux, Wolves midfielder Rubén Neves took the lead seven minutes before half-time with a spectacular strike from 25 yards into the bottom corner.
However, Alain Saint-Maximin matched Neves’ goal as he scored a spectacular volley equalizer from 20 yards in stoppage time to save a 1–1 draw.
Newcastle got off to an unbeaten start and won four games to finish seventh, including a three-game draw in a row.
The bottom two Wolves were unable to win the league with two draws and two losses.
