‘Result of the season’ – Nottingham Forest enjoy big win to go eight points clear of relegation
Nottingham Forest produced one of the best performances in years to beat Sunderland 5-0 at the Stadium of Light on Friday night, sparking a relegation battle with a stunning first-half blitz that saw them eight points clear of the bottom three.
Trai Hume’s goal in the 17th minute sparked a frenzy in the first half. Chris Wood added a second on 31 minutes, Morgan Gibbs-White made it three on 34, and Igor Jesus capped a stunning opening on 45 minutes by sliding in a fourth on 37.
Elliot Anderson, returning to the side following the death of his mother, completed a perfect night with a brace in stoppage time.
Forest are now five points behind West Ham in 17th place with five games remaining, while Tottenham are eight points behind in 18th place.
“The important thing was to build on what we did in the second half last week,” said Chris Wood, who was struggling to find the net when he returned from injury. “We wanted to keep building and getting better and show what we can do. Starting fast and doing what we did today was great.”
Anderson’s gift to his mother
The most poignant moment of the night came when Anderson, who had missed the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final through injury, calmly converted in stoppage time to get his name on the scoresheet.
“We are on a good path at the moment. It took time but we fully believe in ourselves,” he said. “I just know that my mother would be proud of that one, so I’m happy.”
Wood was equally shaken by Anderson’s contribution in both legs of this resurgent Forest run.
“He is an extraordinary man. What he and his family have gone through in the last few weeks is truly heartbreaking and it takes a lot of character and a strong person to come forward and act the way he did last week and today. That intention was to honor 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 scoring a hat-trick against Burnley last weekend, was lucky after the final whistle.
“What’s special, I didn’t think we could go ahead one day but we’ve done it again.” Thanks to the guys and the confidence and faith we have in the dressing room right now going into games.
“A lot comes from the player who plays football, showing faith in his players and giving us confidence in training that we can play well. We always knew we had that character, it was a difficult season at the beginning but we are settled now. We have a good way of playing and we understand each other. The boys played amazingly.”
Gibbs-White also revealed the thought that led him to poke Wood for the second goal instead of going for himself.
“He had a tough time, being out for a long time. He had a few games back but he hadn’t scored that goal yet so the first thought in my mind was to pass him the ball. He deserves it, he has worked hard to come back ready for the end of the season to help the boys. I had no doubt he would clear it. When he touched I thought he was offside, but I didn’t think he was offside either. I passed him and I knew he was going to score.”
In his articles, completed by Anderson’s pull-back, he smiled: “My role in set pieces is to get a block from a few people, I’m not a big threat in the box but I try to find a little space. [Jesus] passing it on and it was a great article and I just included it. “
Gibbs-White also spoke about the prospect of a World Cup call-up under Thomas Tuchel, keeping his focus deliberately narrow.
“I’m more focused on making Forest safe and seeing how far we can go in the Europa League. I can only control what I can’t control and that’s my games here and if I focus on that what will it be.”
The forest overlooks the Villa
Wood will host Aston Villa next Thursday in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final, before the Premier League’s trip to Chelsea on May 4. Wood expressed confidence that back-to-back victories had come at the right time.
“It’s huge. For us it gives us a little bit of breathing space and it puts pressure on the two chasing guys at the back. Going back does that to you, we’ll look to do that again after playing Villa in the cup, we go to Chelsea and we hope to get the same result.”
Gibbs-White was equally bullish about European prospects. “I feel confident. You can see from the way the boys played that everyone feels confident. We’re going into this game wanting to win and do well. Hopefully we’ll get the job done. To be able to reach the finals and give the fans that would be amazing.”
