Tottenham Hotspur came out victorious in a Premier League game where a loss may well have seen Antonio Conte's reign come to an end.
It was perhaps appropriate that the game was set in the English capital. Tottenham had waited seven games for a first half league goal and like London busses, after much waiting, two came in quick succession.
Meanwhile, Forest made it five league games without a win and sit just three points off of the relegation zone.
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Story of the match
Antonio Conte made three changes to his Spurs side that limped out of the Champions League during the week.
Pedro Porro came in for his first home start while Richarlison and Eric Dier returned to the side for the first time since the FA Cup loss to Sheffield United.
Meanwhile, Serge Aurier started against his former employers in a side that featured two changes from the 2-2 draw at Everton.
Jack Colback and Chris Wood dropped to the bench with Jesse Lingard and Orel Mangala taking their place.
Tottenham thought that they had taken an early lead after Richarlison smashed the ball into the Forest net on three minutes, but was adjudged to be marginally offside by VAR.
However, the home side had the ball in the back of the net again on 19 minutes.
This time there was no disallowing what was a beautiful header back across goal from Harry Kane, leaving Keylor Navas clawing at the air.
Just over 15 minutes later and Tottenham were two up.
Stand-in captain Kane doubled his tally for the day from the penalty spot, calmly slotting the ball down the middle as Navas sprawled away to his right.
There was no let up for the visitors when the game resumed in the second half. Heung-Min Son controlled a Richarlison cross and rolled the ball home on 61 minutes to put Tottenham three goals to the good.
Steve Cooper's side were showing Tottenham that they still had teeth to hurt Spurs with. Fraser Forster was forced into an impressive save from a close-range Aurier header before keeping out Emmanuel Dennis' effort moments later.
The visitors pressure soon paid dividends, captain Joe Worrall pulled a goal back for Forest as he headed in from a corner that Forster came to claim and missed with ten minutes to play.
In the dying embers of the game, Nottingham Forest were awarded a penalty when a VAR review sent Craig Pawson to the monitor after Dejan Kulusevski handled the ball.
Pawson pointed to the spot and Andre Ayew had a real chance to give Spurs a scare. However, he found his penalty saved by Forster, whose 6'7 frame came to his aid as his trailing leg kept out the effort.
Shortly after, the final whistle blew. A much needed win for Tottenham following a tough March thus far.
Meanwhile, though a win was not anticipated by Forest fans, today's loss will have fans anxiously looking over their shoulder.
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Player of the match: Harry Kane
Where would Tottenham be without Harry Kane? It is a question asked many a time and an answer may be uncovered sooner rather than later with just 18 months left on the striker's contract.
It had been a rotten ten days for Tottenham. A drab loss to Wolves sandwiched between two cup exits meant that there had been grey clouds hanging over the club coming in to the game.
Filling in for the injured Hugo Lloris, Kane gave a captain's performance leading from the front. His two early goals were vital in easing a bit of tension that had built around the club in the last week.
A special mention must also go to Richarlison, who responded to critics by winning a penalty and assisting Son's goal. He was unlucky to see his own strike ruled out for offside.
