Tottenham plunged deeper into relegation mire on nightmare Roberto De Zerbi start - 5 talking points
SUNDERLAND 1-0 TOTTENHAM: Roberto De Zerbi's first game in charge of Spurs ended in defeat, as a deflected strike from Nordi Mukiele separated the sides at the Stadium of Light
New manager, same result. Roberto De Zerbi failed to stop the rot as feeble Tottenham fell to a 1-0 defeat away to Sunderland, leaving them two points from safety.
Nordi Mukiele's deflected goal made the difference and condemned Spurs to their 17th loss of the season. De Zerbi has been tasked with keeping Tottenham up after they parted ways with Igor Tudor after only five Premier League games, all of which they failed to win.
Sunday's visit to the North east became even bigger after West Ham thrashed Wolves 4-0 and sent Spurs into the relegation zone for the first time this season. Tottenham fans' eyes were also on events at the City Ground, with relegation rivals Nottingham Forest in action against Aston Villa.
Here are five talking points from the Stadium of Light.
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After spending the first 20 minutes under the cosh, Tottenham were given a penalty against the run of play when Randal Kolo Muani went bundling over inside the Sunderland box. Referee Rob Jones had pointed to the spot but was soon sent to the pitch-side VAR monitor.
Replays showed that Kolo Muani had gone down without sufficient contact from Omar Alderete before Luke O'Nien went sliding in while the Spurs striker was already on his way down. Jones quickly reversed his decision and Tottenham couldn't have too many complaints.
Picking up from where he left off against Newcastle before the international break, Brian Brobbey was a pain the neck of Tottenham's defence all afternoon. By half-time, three of Spurs' four-man back line had been shown a yellow card, with Brobbey the source of all of them.
First, Cristian Romero brought him down with a late challenge before Micky van de Ven tripped his Dutch compatriot 10 minutes later, giving away a free-kick which Pedro Porro didn't agree with, so he was booked as well. Brobbey also came closest to opening the scoring, but he missed a good chance with his head early on before being denied by the recalled Antonin Kinsky on the brink of half-time.
With De Zerbi preparing to make a triple change on the hour mark, Sunderland broke the deadlock in fortuitous circumstances. Mukiele made a driving run from right-back and cut inside of Conor Gallagher to find himself in acres of space.
The Frenchman let fly with his weaker left foot and a deflection off the desperate Van de Ven saw the ball loop into the back of the net, with Kinsky having already gone to the other side. De Zerbi still went ahead and made his changes, with Tottenham facing 30 minutes to find a response.
Minutes after the goal, Romero was involved in a nasty collision with his own goalkeeper. It was brought on by a nudge from Brobbey, who the Tottenham skipper had got in front of as Sunderland threatened to double their lead.
Romero looked to have suffered a dead leg after colliding with Kinky's head, leaving the Spurs 'keeper bloodied and needing strapped up Terry Butcher style. On came Kevin Danso to replace his captain after an eight-minute delay.
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If a defeat wasn't bad enough for Tottenham, Forest picked up a handy point at home to Villa. Vitor Pereira's side went 1-0 down but responded before the break, as Neco Williams buried in an equaliser from range.
Forest held on for a draw, much thanks to Morgan Rogers' shocking miss, and are now three points above Spurs in 16th place. A deserved word on Sunderland, too, after back-to-back victories took them into the top half. Remarkable from the Black Cats.