Tottenham Hotspur maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, thanks to a brace from Harry Kane.
Kane scored the game's first goal in six minutes, but Spurs fans had to wait until the 81st minute for the game to be decided.
Forest were dangerous throughout the game, but they were unable to capitalise on the opportunities they created.
Here are four things that we learned on Sunday.
Forest played attractive football
Forest played more attractive football than Spurs throughout. They were fluid and created many opportunities going forward, but they couldn't find the finishing touch. With so many new faces coming through the door during this window, Forest were never going to gel as a team overnight, but this was a performance that showed they are not far off already.
The Reds were applauded off by 29,296 fans at an electric City Ground, who were well aware that their team had gone toe-to-toe with a Champions League team and looked just as good throughout.
Forest’s record signing Morgan Gibbs-White looked consistently dangerous on his home debut for his new club, showing pace and flair throughout and linking well with Brennan Johnson and Jesse Lingard. It is no surprise Steve Cooper pursued the 24-year-old all summer.
The new trio played freeflowing football that repeatedly put Spurs defenders on the back foot. Lingard, who created the joint-most chances (3), was the joint-most fouled (3), and was the most accurate passer of the ball (96%) in the game, appeared to benefit from the new setup as well. This was in addition to his constant pressing. The trio know they will need to be more ruthless, though, if they are to convert the chances they create.
The Reds are missing Niakhaté
Forest's back three are extremely talented. Joe Worrall, Scott McKenna, and Steve Cook all led the club back to the Premier League, with Worrall named in the Championship Team of the Season and McKenna named Nottingham Forest Player of the Season 2021/22.
However, when up against the likes of Son Heung-min and other Premier League forwards, Forest clearly miss the pace of Moussa Niakhaté. The injury to the centre-back in the win over West Ham has hurt the Reds and exposed the back three to pacy forwards.
Although Worrall, Cook, and McKenna are well-drilled and have already proven their capabilities as a unit, the fact that all three were booked against Spurs highlighted their struggles with the counter-attacking speed.
Antonio Conte was content for Forest to dominate possession because he knew his team could hit Forest on the break. In the end, his game plan worked flawlessly, but only because of Forest's level of end product - something that the Reds will not always struggle with this season.
Harry Kane was the difference
Harry Kane scored a brace which included his 200th career goal to earn the win for Spurs. The two goals mean that he is now joint-third in the all-time Premier League goalscorer standings alongside Andy Cole, with only Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer ahead of the 29-year-old.
He did not have the best game against Forest, but he was the deciding factor. After six minutes, Dejan Kulusevski passed the ball back to Kane, who did not make the cleanest of contacts but put enough behind it to beat Dean Henderson. He hurt Steve Cooper’s side early on from an efficient counter attack.
Spurs had seen off all of Forest's efforts to break them down with just nine minutes remaining, and Richarlison won the ball back in the final third before curling in a cross with the outside of his boot for Kane to convert with a diving header at the back post.
Forest were arguably the better team throughout the game, but they lacked a Harry Kane to convert all of their chances. He is the joint-third all-time Premier League goalscorer for a reason.
Richarlison caused kick-up controversy
Richarlison's decision to do kick-ups in the closing stages sparked heated debate after the game, with many fans viewing it as disrespectful, while others saw it as perfectly normal.
The 25-year-old rolling around on the floor prior to this will not have helped the situation, but the fact that nobody was around the Brazilian while he was doing the kick-ups is why many fans find it disrespectful, compared to other situations where players use flare throughout the game.
Footballers dislike being the target of showboating, as Brennan Johnson demonstrated with a fierce challenge seconds later, and Richarlison will be well aware of this.
When asked about the incident, Forest boss Steve Cooper told his media team of his lack of tolerance towards the scenario.
“I wouldn’t want my players to do that, what Richarlison did. But if that’s accepted at Spurs then that’s nothing to do with me. But it wouldn’t be accepted here, that’s for sure.”