Nottingham Forest produced one of their finest performances in years to hammer Sunderland 5-0 at the Stadium of Light on Friday night, blowing the relegation battle wide open with a breathtaking first-half blitz that moved them eight points clear of the bottom three.
Trai Hume’s own goal in the 17th minute sparked a stunning first-half frenzy. Chris Wood added a second on 31 minutes, Morgan Gibbs-White made it three on 34, and Igor Jesus capped an extraordinary opening 45 minutes by sliding in a fourth on 37.
Elliot Anderson, returning to the side following the death of his mother, rounded off a perfect night with a composed finish deep into stoppage time.
Forest are now five points clear of 17th-placed West Ham with five games to play, with Tottenham eight points adrift in 18th.
“The key was to build on what we did in the second half last week,” said Chris Wood, who had struggled to find the net during his return from injury. “We wanted to continue to build and get better and show what we are capable of. Starting fast and doing what we did today was fantastic.”
Anderson’s tribute to his mum
The most emotional moment of the night came when Anderson, who had missed the Europa League quarter-final first leg while grieving, calmly converted in stoppage time to put his name on the scoresheet.
“We are on a good run at the minute. It’s taken a while but we fully believe in ourselves,” he said. “I just know that my Mum would have been really proud with that one so I’m happy.”
Wood was equally moved by Anderson’s contribution across both legs of this resurgent Forest run.
“He’s an extraordinary man. The stuff him and his family have gone through over the past couple of weeks is truly heartbreaking and it takes big character and a strong bloke to come out and perform the way he did both last week and today. That goal was a tribute to his Mum and Helen is always in our thoughts.”
Gibbs-White hunting England call-up
Captain Morgan Gibbs-White, who now has seven goals in his last seven Premier League games after last weekend’s hat-trick against Burnley, was ebullient after the final whistle.
“Special, I didn’t think we could top the other day but we’ve done it again. Credit to the boys and the confidence and belief we have in the dressing room right now going into games.
“Most of it comes from the gaffer, showing belief in his players and giving us confidence in training sessions that we can put on good performances. We’ve always known we have that character, it’s been a difficult season at the start but we’re settled now. We’ve got a good way of playing and we understand each other. The boys put on an incredible performance.”
Gibbs-White also revealed the thinking that led to him threading Wood through for the second goal rather than going himself.
“He’s had a tough period, being out for so long. Had a few games back but still hadn’t had that goal so the first thought in my mind was to pass him the ball. He deserves it, he’s worked so hard to come back ready for the end of the season to help the boys. I had no doubt he would tuck it away. When he took the touch I thought he was offside. But striker’s instinct, they know where to be at the right time. As soon as I passed to him I knew he would score.”
On his own goal, finished from Anderson’s pull-back, he smiled: “My role in the set pieces is to get a block on a couple of people, I’m not the biggest threat in the box but I try to find a bit of space. Luckily enough it went back post and I was screaming at Igor [Jesus] to pass it back and it was a perfect header and I just slotted it in.”
Gibbs-White also addressed the prospect of a World Cup call-up under Thomas Tuchel, keeping his focus deliberately narrow.
“My full focus is on getting Forest safe and seeing how far we can get in the Europa League. I can only control what I can control and that’s my performances here and then if I focus on that then what will be will be.”
Forest keeping one eye on Villa
Forest host Aston Villa next Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final, before a Premier League trip to Chelsea on May 4. Wood noted the confidence that back-to-back wins had injected at exactly the right moment.
“It’s massive. For us it gives us a bit of breathing room and it also puts a bit of pressure on the two chasing behind. Back to back wins does that for you, we’ll look to do that again after playing Villa in the cup, go to Chelsea and hope to get the same result.”
Gibbs-White was equally bullish about the European prospects. “Feeling confident. You can see from the boys’ performances that everyone is feeling confident. We’re going into the game wanting to win and perform well. Hopefully we can get the job done. To be able to get to a final and give that to the fans would be incredible.”
