adminNottingham Forest cranked up the pressure on their relegation rivals by thrashing Sunderland 5-0 in the Premier League, moving eight points clear of the drop zone.
Trai Hume’s 17th-minute own goal opened the floodgates, with Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White, and Igor Jesus all finding the net in a six-minute first-half burst at the Stadium of Light.
Elliot Anderson capped off the win with a stoppage-time goal.
The victory gave Vitor Pereira’s 16th-placed Forest, who are unbeaten in six successive league games, 39 points with four games to play.
It puts more pressure on West Ham United, who are 17th on 33 points, and Tottenham Hotspur, who are 18th on 31 points.
Compounding Sunderland’s misery, Dan Ballard’s second-half goal was chalked off after the video assistant referee (VAR) determined that Nordi Mukiele had tripped goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Forest’s goalkeeper preserved the clean sheet with a terrific late save, stretching to tip Enzo Le Fée’s blistering close-range strike over the bar.
The game was end-to-end in the opening minutes, with decent chances for both sides before Forest broke the deadlock when Omari Hutchinson floated a ball from a corner to the far post for Igor Jesus to head towards goal. The ball pinged off Hume’s head on the way in for an own goal.
Wood struck in the 31st minute when Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs inexplicably passed the ball straight into his path. The ball bounced off the striker and fell to Gibbs-White, who drew Roefs out of his net before passing it back to Wood to slot home.
Gibbs-White added a goal of his own three minutes later when a ball to the back post found Jesus, who headed it down for the midfielder, who unleashed a powerful shot into the bottom corner.
Jesus had the visiting fans in raptures when he placed the ball into the far corner three minutes later, with the ball glancing off Roefs’ outstretched arm on the way in.
Sunderland, who conceded four goals in a 4-3 loss to Aston Villa last week, were booed off the pitch at half-time.
Forest’s victory comes five days after they scored four second-half goals to beat Burnley 4-1.
“It’s quite special,” Gibbs-White said.
“I didn’t think we could top the other day, but we’ve done it. I think that’s credit to the boys and shows the character in the dressing room, as well as the belief and confidence we have right now going into games.”
Anderson had missed Forest’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final win over Porto earlier this month after the death of his mother, Helen.
“Just really happy to score here, and I know my mum would have been really proud of that one,” he said.
Forest boss Vitor Pereira, however, believes there is still more work to do for his side during their final four league games of the 2025–2026 season.
“It isn’t enough. We need more points, we need to win more games, and we need to keep our mentality,” Pereira said.
“Five goals, a clean sheet — I am very happy for the players, the supporters, the club, and the staff. We deserve it because we played a fantastic first half.
“We decided to come here and press them because we are fighting for our life. When we are fighting, we feel the need to do something, not to wait. We pressed them very well and scored fantastic goals from set plays.
“In the end, one more goal, we did not concede — I am happy of course.”
Sunderland suffered their joint-heaviest home defeat in the Football League, also losing 6-1 to both Newcastle United in December 1955 and Birmingham City in April 1958.
Following the demolition, Sunderland player Enzo Le Fee sparked fan outrage after a shocking statement:
“We can’t speak about Europe when we lose 5-0 at home.”
The comment divided fans, with many calling for greater accountability after what they described as a low-mentality outburst.
Meanwhile, Sunderland boss Régis Le Bris said his side was reminded that it cannot let its standards drop in the Premier League.
“The big difference in intensity is clear. We started OK, but then progressively we felt that they were more involved, intense, and pragmatic,” Le Bris said.
“They pressed well, and we were unable to build under that pressure, and the momentum shifted at that moment.
“They were clinical; they scored four goals in the first half. It was like a punch in the face.
“It is a strong reminder. We dropped our standards by maybe 10 per cent, and we were punished, which was the case today. We were not at their level no excuses.”
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