Forest hammer Sunderland to stretch safety gap to eight points | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest took a huge step towards Premier League survival with a ruthless 5-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, moving eight points clear of the relegation zone in style.

The visitors made an explosive start and were ahead in the 17th minute when Igor Jesus’ back-post header struck Trai Hume and looped into the net for an own goal. Sunderland’s problems quickly mounted as they struggled to cope with Forest’s intensity.

The second goal arrived after a costly mistake from goalkeeper Robin Roefs, whose loose pass was intercepted by Chris Wood, allowing the striker to finish from close range after a quick exchange with Morgan Gibbs-White.

Forest were in complete control and added a third just three minutes later. Jesus rose well to head the ball into Gibbs-White’s path, and the midfielder drilled a low strike into the bottom corner with confidence.

It soon became four before the break when a loose ball inside the area fell to Jesus, who smashed a powerful volley beyond Roefs to cap a devastating first-half display from the visitors.

Sunderland briefly thought they had a way back into the match when Dan Ballard headed in after the restart, but the goal was ruled out following a VAR review for a foul on Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.

Any hope of a comeback quickly faded, and Forest wrapped up the scoring in stoppage time when Elliot Anderson finished a counter-attack with a composed low strike.

The result moves Forest to 39 points, giving them a significant cushion above the bottom three and extending their strong run of form at a crucial stage of the season.

Incidents: The story of the match

Sunderland Official Line-ups:

Robin Roefs, Trai Hume, Omar Alderete, Nordi Mukiele, Daniel Ballard, Noah Sadiki, Granit Xhaka, Enzo Le Fée, Habib Diarra, Chris Rigg, Brian Brobbey

Nottingham Forest Official Line-ups:

Matz Sels, Ola Aina, Jair Cunha, Nikola Milenkovic, Neco Williams, Ibrahim Sangaré, Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson, Igor Jesus, Chris Wood, Omari Hutchinson

1':

The match begins

17':

GOAL Sunderland: Trai Hume (Sunderland) socres an own goal!

Nottingham Forest leads 2-0 with Chris Wood scoring from the center of the box with a left-footed shot, assisted by Morgan Gibbs-White.

31':

GOAL Nottingham Forest: Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest) scores!

Chris Wood scores goal number 3 in the competition (11 matches)

Nottingham Forest leads 3-0 with Morgan Gibbs-White scoring a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom left corner, assisted by Igor Jesus with a headed pass after a corner.

34':

GOAL Nottingham Forest: Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) scores!

Morgan Gibbs-White scores goal number 13 in the competition (34 matches)

Nottingham Forest leads Sunderland 4-0 as Igor Jesus scores with a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom right corner after a set piece.

37':

GOAL Nottingham Forest: Igor Jesus (Nottingham Forest) scores!

Igor Jesus scores goal number 5 in the competition (33 matches)

Sunderland 1, Nottingham Forest 4. Dan Ballard scores for Sunderland with a header from very close range into the top right corner, assisted by Nordi Mukiele after a set piece.Nottingham Forest scores with a right-footed shot from the center of the box by Elliot Anderson. The score is now Sunderland 0, Nottingham Forest 5.

90 +5':

GOAL Nottingham Forest: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest) scores!

Elliot Anderson scores goal number 3 in the competition (34 matches)

998':

The referee whistles for the end of the match