- Anthony Elanga produced a great shot to open the scoring.
- The Spurs controlled the ball but were unable to convert their possession into goals.
The fog rolled in from the River Trent like it does in the Nottingham Forest terrace anthem, but the songs in the air were about climbing the Premier League, reaching Europe and even the Champions League.
It has been almost 30 years since the last of their famous adventures abroad, but Forest are third in the Premier League after beating Tottenham at the City Ground and starting to dream of Nuno Espirito Santo.
Anthony Elanga's first-half goal meant four wins in a row for Nuno's team, moving them into third position and already surpassing last season's total of 32 points.
Forest seems increasingly self-assured, comfortable in a system that suits its best players and bruising the egos of the elite along the way.
Tottenham are the latest victim, and the defeat only increases the pressure on Ange Postecoglou as his team sinks to the bottom half.
This was their first defeat on Boxing Day since 2003 and came with defeats at Crystal Palace and Bournemouth this season. On each of those occasions, they fell behind and were unable to find a goal against teams prepared to defend in depth and numbers.
Beyond the insult of another defeat came another injury. This one for Radu Dragusin, who limped off and left his team with Archie Gray and Yves Bissouma in central defence.
Then came a red card for Djed Spence, who received a second yellow for a foul on Jota Silva to stop a late counterattack in stoppage time.
Spence will be ruled out on Sunday against the Wolves. Dragusin will join a long list of victims.
Elanga's goal in the 28th minute summed up the predictable pattern of play.
Spurs dominated the ball, passed and tested and still found Forest difficult to penetrate. The home team was well organized and diligent, stifling Tottenham's main attacking threats. They offered no hint of space behind the back four and were direct and threatening on the counter-attack.
Spence, starting his fourth consecutive game for the Spurs, fumbled in an advanced position to Neco Williams. Morgan Gibbs-White collected a pass out of defense and advanced down the middle of the field before sliding a pass to his right.
Elanga stayed in place, finished with confidence and celebrated his third goal in consecutive games.
Tottenham could have regretted the early wasted opportunities. The first to Heung-min Son after five minutes after a rare mistake with the ball by Murillo, who gave it to Dejan Kulusevski, who started in midfield with James Maddison starting on the bench.
Son could not beat Matz Sels, who made two excellent saves in the first half to deny Brennan Johnson his final return to the City Ground.
Johnson and Spence combined at Forest just in the season in which they won promotion to the Premier League. Here, in Tottenham colours, they combined again but with little success and heard a chorus about how they “used to play for a big club”.
Sels made another spectacular save from Johnson early in the second half, whipping out a right boot to frustrate him when Forest failed to clear a corner.
Forest went close to a second when Fraser Forster kicked a cross to Gibbs-White. The goalkeeper made amends by saving Gibbs-White but was lucky to survive when Elanga flicked the ball over the empty net and Pape Matar Sarr made a vital block in the ensuing fight.
Postecoglou removed Sarr in his first wave of changes made in search of an equaliser, giving up the resistance he brings to the midfield to give it more creativity. Rodrigo Bentancur, back after a seven-game ban for offensive comments in a television interview, also lost strength.
James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall came on, and Nuno responded by removing Elanga and switching to five defenders and they held on for three points to move them above Arsenal into third place.