Nottingham Forest took a huge step towards Premier League survival with an emphatic 5-0 victory at Sunderland, scoring four goals in a delirious 21-minute spell before half-time to make a mockery of what had looked a difficult fixture. The win moved Vitor Pereira's side to 39 points, eight clear of 18th-placed Tottenham and six clear of 17th-placed West Ham.
Trai Hume's unfortunate own goal in the 17th minute sparked the rout, and Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus all struck inside the next 20 minutes to leave Sunderland with a mountain to climb. Elliot Anderson added a fifth in second-half stoppage time to complete a chastening evening for the hosts, who suffered their heaviest defeat since returning to the top flight.
A Bright Start Undone by Wasted Chances
It was Sunderland who made the brighter start. Elliot Anderson saw an early strike blocked by Omar Alderete after Noah Sadiki had carelessly passed the ball straight to Omari Hutchinson, but the home side's best opening fell to Chris Rigg, who shot tamely at Matz Sels from Enzo Le Fee's inviting through ball when well placed to put Regis Le Bris' side ahead.