Down on their luck in midweek, Tottenham would be gifted a goal in the early stages against Forest, with Murillo turning into his own net.
It had stemmed from impressive work by Timo Werner, who danced his way into the penalty area, before firing a pass across the face of the goal. In the end, it was lazy from Murillo, whose dangled leg diverted the ball beyond a helpless Matz Sels.
But, with just six clean sheets from their 30 matches so far this season, the threat of Tottenham gifting Forest a route back into the contest remained.
That proved to be the case midway through the first half, with Chris Wood netting his fourth goal in as many games to draw the visitors level. Anthony Elanga delivered the cross for Wood, who, despite a sliding tackle from Spurs man Pedro Porro, squeezed the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.
Lucky to have not fallen behind in the second period, Postecoglou turned to his bench at the break to make two changes.
The switch in approach helped Tottenham out almost immediately after the restart, with a Micky van de Ven rocket helping re-establish Spurs’ lead.
The defender, who took range from the edge of the box, rifled the ball into the top left-hand corner, leaving goalkeeper Sels no chance of making a save.
That delight was doubled from a Tottenham perspective moments later, with Porro netting a third for the home side. The Portuguese ace connected sweetly with a bouncing ball inside the box to wallop home a stunning half-volley.
Despite a few jittery moments towards the end of the game, where Forest looked like they might claw another goal back, the Spurs defence stood firm.
Tougher tests for Spurs are to come, but the top-four hopefuls will enter the run-in as favourites to qualify automatically for the Champions League.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur)
