In one of the more surprising scores of the season, Nottingham Forest ran riot at the Stadium of Light.
Trai Hume’s (£4.5m) own goal started it all, before Chris Wood (£7.1m), Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.5m), Igor Jesus (£5.8m) and Elliot Anderson (£5.6m) found the net.
Here are our Scout Notes from the match.
GIBBS-WHITE’S FORM
In a ruthless first-half display, Forest raced into a 4-0 lead, with Gibbs-White superb once more.
After his precise pass to set up Wood, he struck powerfully into the bottom corner to notch his 13th Premier League goal of the season.
10 of them have come in 2026. That’s the joint-most of any player in the top-flight, tied with Igor Thiago (£7.3m).
“At the start of the season we didn’t really have Wood, he wasn’t fit, and he was always my go to.
“This season we had that different scenario so I try to hit the box more. I’ve been practicing in training and it’s been paying off in games so I’m delighted.” – Morgan Gibbs-White
Averaging a goal every 98.6 minutes under Vitor Pereira, an excellent ratio, Gibbs-White was part of the Free Hit template in Blank Gameweek 34, as well as Sunderland’s Robin Roefs (£4.8m) and Nordi Mukiele (£4.6m), as per LiveFPL.
FOREST 4-4-2
In many ways, this was the perfect away performance by Forest.
In a repeat of last Sunday’s successful half-time tactic, Pereira decided to use two strikers in an attacking 4-4-2 formation.
Gibbs-White subsequently played off the left, but he often got beyond Jesus and Wood, who would regularly drop off the front line to help the Forest midfield.
Above: Forest’s average position map v Sunderland, including Gibbs-White (10), Jesus (19) and Wood (11)
The new setup certainly paid off, as the Tricky Trees extended their unbeaten run to eight games in all competitions.
“Wood returned from injury and I realised that with two strikers on the pitch we are very dangerous. The only thing is to find a way to defend well and press in an organised way. Chris and Igor [Jesus] help defending as well as scoring goals.” – Vitor Pereira
“A fantastic striker. He knows everything about the game. How to hold the ball, how to assist, how to score, how to press, everything. He helped in the defensive set plays. He is a striker who can do everything.” – Vitor Pereira on Chris Wood
After Wood, Gibbs-White and Jesus all found the net, Anderson put the icing on the cake late on, passing it into the bottom corner.
The £5.6m midfielder also banked defensive contribution (DefCon) points. He’s now hit the threshold in three of his last four matches, and 24 times across the season.
Nikola Milenkovic (£5.1m) was the only other player to receive DefCon points.
On the injury front, Jair Cunha (£4.2m), in for the absent Murillo (£5.2m), landed awkwardly and had to come off with a potential shoulder issue, while Ibrahim Sangare (£4.9m) picked up a minor knock.
PEREIRA: “WE CANNOT RELAX”
Have Forest secured their place in the Premier League?
The win has taken them eight points clear of 18th, which is currently occupied by Tottenham Hotspur.
It’s undoubtedly helped ease the pressure as they prepare for Thursday’s UEFA Europa League semi-final first leg against Aston Villa, followed by their Gameweek 35 trip to Chelsea; however, Pereira has said that his team cannot afford to become complacent.
“In my opinion, it isn’t enough. We need more points and we need to keep our mentality. We cannot relax.” – Vitor Pereira
It’s important to note that both Spurs and West Ham United will have played twice before Forest’s next game in nine days.
SUNDERLAND DROP-OFF
This was a terrible display from Sunderland, who have now conceded nine times in their last two matches.
In fact, only Burnley (31) and Spurs (30) have conceded more goals than them (27) in the Premier League since the turn of the year.
Somewhat uncharacteristically, they made numerous errors trying to play out from the back on Friday. The half-time switch to a back five did bring more defensive stability, but Roefs was particularly poor, with three of Forest’s five goals coming from set-piece situations.
“We have to find a solution. We felt it last week against Villa, that those situations can hurt us, so we have strong work to do with the coaching staff. It is not only behind the scenes but on the pitch where you have to get better.” – Regis Le Bris on Sunderland’s set-piece weakness
Dan Ballard (£4.7m) had a goal controversially ruled out, which consequently denied Mukiele an assist.
Omar Alderete (£4.1m), meanwhile, had four shots, the most of any player.
