Richarlison's crucial Tottenham moment that went under the radar in Nottingham Forest defeat

Richarlison's goal proved to be too little, too late for Tottenham on Monday evening as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Nottingham Forest. It is a result that leaves side 16th in the Premier League table and there is a chance of them heading into Sunday's fixture at Liverpool one place above the drop zone.

may have lost against Forest but . The Lilywhites once again gave themselves an uphill task after falling 2-0 behind after 16 minutes following goals from Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood.

Chances were there to get back into the contest before half-time, with skewing a shot wide of the target and missing two headers. The first of those two chances for the Brazilian really should have found the back of the net but he couldn't manage to hit the target after flinging himself at cross.

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Richarlison may have been better leaving the ball for Pape Matar Sarr who was steaming in at the back post. Whether or not the attacker received a shout from his teammate to leave the ball is not clear, though.

Prior to that effort, the 27-year-old had seen very little of the ball. In fact, his header was only his fifth touch of the match, thus highlighting that very little had come his way on his return to the starting XI.

Richarlison's second headed attempt prior to half-time also drifted wide of the target, . It did appear that it would be one of those nights for the ex-Everton man as Matz Sels expertly thwarted him on two occasions in the second half.

However, he could do nothing about Richarlison's header in the 87th minute as he found the bottom corner from Pedro Porro's pinpoint delivery. The attacker's missed opportunities will no doubt have been the talking point for fans but one thing that may have been overlooked is that he managed to complete the full game.

It was actually the first time Richarlison had played 90 minutes in 2024/25 after failing to do so in his previous 16 games following an injury-hit campaign. Eighty-one minutes was the best he had managed prior to that and that came in the Europa League home win over Elfsborg in January, with 79 minutes during the 2-0 win at Brentford his previous highest in the Premier League this season.

, Postecoglou admitted that Richarlison is going to get some game time in the next couple of games "because he's looking really good in training". Following the 2-1 defeat, the head coach was then quizzed on the positive of Richarlison scoring again.

"It was part of the exercise today to get him and Wilson, Kulusevski, Kevin Danso some game time because they have missed a hell of a lot of football," . "Richy has hardly played all year, Deki has been a couple of months, same with Wilson and Kevin.

"From that perspective it was good they all got through it and got some meaningful minutes. We could rest a few others which was also useful for us. From that perspective it was a positive."

Ahead of some huge games in Tottenham's season with a place in the Europa League final up for grabs, Richarlison has received a confidence boost at the perfect time after his goal and 90 minutes in the Nottingham Forest defeat. Now it's about getting more minutes in the tank at Liverpool on Sunday and putting himself in the best possible place to help Tottenham achieve Europa League glory come May.