Spurs falter, Sunderland inflict more derby pain on Newcastle

Tottenham suffered a potentially seismic 3-0 defeat to Premier League relegation rivals Nottingham Forest on Sunday, failing to rise to a rallying call from their massed ranks of fans.

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Sunderland's Fabio Borini (left) goes past a Newcastle United during their match.

Thousands lined the streets to cheer the squad before the crunch fixture in north London and there was a crackling atmosphere in the ground as kickoff approached.

Spurs bossed the first half but Forest took the lead on the stroke of halftime when Brazilian forward Igor Jesus headed home a Neco Williams corner.

Forest doubled their lead just after the hour mark when Morgan Gibbs-White finished under Guglielmo Vicario and substitute Taiwo Awoniyi compounded Tottenham's misery with a late strike.

The vital win for Vitor Pereira’s men lifts them above Spurs, who are now just one point and one place above the bottom three.

Last year’s Europa League winners are staring at the nightmare prospect of relegation from the top tier of English football for the first time since 1977 unless they can arrest their steep decline. Spurs, led by interim boss Igor Tudor, came into Sunday's game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without a win in the Premier League since late December.