A pre-game rallying cry from Cristian Romero did little to get Spurs on the front foot in the early stages of this seismic clash, as it was Forest who settled quickest.
It didn’t take too long for the pendulum to swing in Tottenham’s favour, and they manufactured the game’s first real opportunity when Mathys Tel’s corner was met by Richarlison, whose header flashed across the face of goal and behind.
The hosts came even closer moments later, albeit with a huge stroke of fortune, as Igor Jesus headed Kevin Danso’s long throw against his own post.
Spurs kept up the pressure for the majority of the first half, yet in a game that had an air of must-not-lose rather than must-win, chances were at a premium.
That was a quest that went up in smoke on the stroke of half-time, though, when Forest hit Spurs with a sucker punch.
There was an element of simplicity about how Jesus opened the scoring, climbing highest at the far post to head Neco Williams’ corner back across goal and into the far corner, leaving Spurs boss Igor Tudor plenty to ponder at half-time.
Provider almost turned scorer within 10 minutes of the restart when Williams was left in acres of space at the far post to meet Elliot Anderson’s delivery, but his header was powered straight at Guglielmo Vicario.
Nerves were certainly growing inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and those soon turned to despair when the hosts found themselves two goals behind.
Callum Hudson-Odoi did the heavy lifting in the build-up, dancing his way to the byline before cutting the ball back for one-time Tottenham target Morgan Gibbs-White to sweep home from six yards.
Spurs never overly threatened to get back into the game, with a stinging volley from Pape Matar Sarr, which was well blocked by Ibrahim Sangare, about as close as they came to salvaging a crumb of pride.
West Ham United losing against Aston Villa at least spared Tudor’s men the ignominy of dropping into the bottom three today, but Forest adding a third in the dying moments through Taiwo Awoniyi, who turned home Williams’ delivery, prompted a mass exodus and a chorus of boos at full-time, making it increasingly difficult to see how Tudor survives this defeat.