Nottingham Forest knock Tottenham Hotspur out of Carabao Cup

Tottenham's Harry Kane gestures during a Carabao Cup third round match against Nottingham Forest at City Ground in Nottingham, England on Nov. 9. [AP/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, losing 2-0 to the Premier League’s last-placed club despite only facing 10 men for the final 15 minutes.

A visibly tired Tottenham were outperformed by Forest, with goals coming in the 50th and 57th minutes from Renan Lodi and Jesse Lingard.

Spurs were on the back foot from the get go despite fielding a strong starting XI, with Forest nearly taking the lead in the 10th minute when a clearance almost deflected back into their own net.

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte made four changes before the 60-minute mark, taking off Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Ivan Perisic, Oliver Skipp and Harry Kane in favor of fresh legs in the form of Rodrigo Bentancur, Richarlison, Dejan Kulusevski and Bryan Gil.

Despite the strong additions — Bentancur and Kulusevski in particular have been on strong form recently — Tottenham were unable to break through, even after Orel Mangala was sent off in the 75th minute with a second yellow card.

With the loss, yet another trophy opportunity has come and gone for Spurs as the club continues to be without any significant silverware since 2008. The London club are still in the Champions League and are fourth in the Premier League.

"It's very frustrating,” Conte said after the game. “We tried to play the game in the right way and I can't complain about the commitment of my players.

"Now we need to end in the right way on Saturday because we have an important game against Leeds and we want to end this tough period with a win."

Spurs will face Leeds on Saturday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in their final league fixture before the international break kicks in for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Their next game will be on Dec. 25.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]