SUNDERLAND, England (AP) – Nottingham Forest took a big step towards securing their place in the Premier League with a 5-0 win over Sunderland on Friday.
Less than a week after beating Burnley 4-1, Forest moved to eight points clear of the relegation zone, sending shivers down the spines of Tottenham Hotspur fans. Spurs are relegated to third place, two points behind West Ham.
With Burnley and Wolves already relegated, Spurs or West Ham are the most likely candidates to join them.
Forest’s New Zealand striker Chris Wood said: “It gives us some space and puts pressure on the two guys behind us.” “If we win consecutive games, that will happen.
“We’ve been building on the second half of last week. That’s what we wanted to do. We want to build and improve and show what we’re capable of. We started fast and what we did today was great.”
Sunderland had the league’s best defensive record at home behind Manchester City and Arsenal, but that defensive solidity disappeared during a disastrous first half.
Forest looked faster and hungrier from the start and took the lead after 16 minutes when Igor Jesus’ header from a fine short corner found Try Hume.
Then goalkeeper Robin Roofs gave Forest a second goal and disaster struck for Sunderland. His sloppy pass went straight to Morgan Gibbs-White and fed Chris Wood, giving the big New Zealander his first league goal since the start of the season, having recently returned from a lengthy injury spell.
Gibbs-White gave Jesus time and space three minutes later with a wonderfully cushioned header before converting a low shot to make it 3-0.
Three minutes after Sunderland collapsed, Jesus scored Forest’s fourth goal.
Sunderland’s Dan Ballard’s goal was ruled out for chalk after a second-half video review, but if there was any doubt that the home side were completely unlucky, Elliott Anderson’s fifth goal in stoppage time sealed Sunderland’s biggest ever defeat at the Stadium of Light.
“It’s hard to explain right after the game,” Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka said. “All I can say is I’m sorry to the fans. It was an easy goal to concede today. Three set-pieces and the coach said if you drop one percent of your maximum there you’re dead. You were punished and we were punished at home.”
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