Nottingham Forest took a huge step towards Premier League survival with a big win at Sunderland to go eight points clear of the bottom three.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Igor Jesus’ back-post header deflected in off Sunderland defender Trai Hume.
They doubled their lead in the 31st minute after Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs’ pass was intercepted and Chris Wood was able to finish.
Three minutes later Morgan Gibbs-White powerfully found the bottom corner after being teed up by Igor Jesus’ header.
In the 37th minute the Brazil striker smashed a loose ball into the net following a corner.
And Forest netted a fifth in second-half stoppage time through Elliot Anderson’s low strike on the counter-attack.
The win took relegation-threatened Forest to 39 points, eight clear of 18th-placed Tottenham and six clear of 17th-placed West Ham.
Only six teams have ever been relegated from the Premier League with 39 points in the 38-game era, and none since 2011.
Sunderland’s Dan Ballard thought he had pulled a goal back on the hour mark but the referee ruled it out for a foul by Nordi Mukiele on Forest keeper Matz Sels after being asked to check the pitchside monitor by the video assistant referee (VAR).
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The win was Forest’s biggest win of the season and backed up their 4-1 victory over Burnley last weekend.
Vitor Pereira’s side are on a fantastic run at just the right time. They are unbeaten in six league games (three wins and three draws) and have a Europa League semi-final with Aston Villa on the horizon.
They stunned a Sunderland side who have the eighth-best home record this season.
The mood in the East Midlands is significantly more optimistic now than it was on 15 March – when Forest were last dragged into the relegation zone following a West Ham draw against Manchester City.
Pereira’s team have since collected 10 points from a possible 12, a run which started with their crucial 3-0 win at relegation rivals Tottenham, and has lifted the club away from danger.
Individually, Gibbs-White continued his fine form. The England midfielder scored his seventh goal in as many games and also assisted Wood’s strike with a clinical pass.
Wood, who has spent most of his season sidelined by a knee injury, scored his first Forest goal since netting two on the opening day of the season.
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Sunderland could have moved into the top eight with a win, potentially further boosting their hopes of European football next season.
But Regis le Bris’ side were shocked by Forest, conceding three goals in six first-half minutes and were never able to get back into the game.
Friday’s result was just the third time Sunderland have lost a league game on home soil by five or more goals – and the first since a 6-1 loss to Birmingham City in April 1958.
And worryingly for Sunderland, only Burnley (31) and Tottenham Hotspur (30) have conceded more goals than them (27) in the Premier League in 2026.
Before the new year only Arsenal (12) and Manchester City (17) had let in fewer than them in the top flight (18).