Nottingham Forest took a huge step towards safety in the Premier League after a resounding 5-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Nottingham Forest thrashed Sunderland 5-0 at the Stadium of Light to move eight clear of the Premier League relegation zone.
Trai Hume‘s own goal in the 17th minute sparked a first-half rout, with Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus all getting on the scoresheet before the break, while Elliot Anderson wrapped up the victory in second-half stoppage time.
After Chris Rigg missed a golden chance early on, shooting straight at Matz Sels, Forest took the lead at the other end as Jesus’ header back across goal was inadvertently turned in by Hume.
Wood made it 2-0, capitalising on a poor pass from Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs, and it was not long before Gibbs-White added a third as he drilled an effort into the bottom-left corner from Jesus’ knock down.
Brazilian Jesus added a fourth, and their third in a six-minute spell before the break, as he volleyed in after Ola Aina’s initial effort from range was blocked into the striker’s path.
The Black Cats thought they pulled a goal back just after the hour mark through Dan Ballard, but his header was disallowed following a VAR review after Nordi Mukiele had fouled Sels before the Sunderland defender nodded in.
And Sunderland’s misery was compounded in the 95th minute as former Newcastle United man Anderson swept in from Taiwo Awoniyi’s layoff to seal what could prove to be a vital three points in their bid for survival.
This was Sunderland’s joint-heaviest home defeat in the Football League, also losing 6-1 to both Newcastle United in December 1955 and to Birmingham City in April 1958, while this was Forest’s biggest away win in the top-flight since April 1995 versus Sheffield Wednesday (7-1).
There were just five minutes and 59 seconds between Wood putting Forest 2-0 ahead and Jesus making it 4-0, their shortest gap between three goals in a Premier League match.
Gibbs-White and Jesus both registered a goal and an assist. In Gibbs-White (16) and Jesus (15), Forest are the only Premier League side to have two players score 15+ goals across all competitions this season.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Sunderland vs Nottingham Forest stats from their Premier League meeting at the Stadium of Light on Friday 24 April 2026.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Sunderland 0-5 Nottingham Forest Post-Match Facts
- Nottingham Forest scored four first half goals in a Premier League away game for the first time – they were the first top-flight side to do so on the road since Tottenham Hotspur vs Southampton in December 2024 (5-0).
- Sunderland conceded four first half goals in a Premier League home game for only the second time, previously trailing 4-0 to Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light in March 2015 under Gus Poyet.
- Nottingham Forest have won back-to-back Premier League games for only the second time this season, also doing so in November under Sean Dyche (vs Leeds and Liverpool) – this was the Tricky Trees’ biggest away win in the top-flight since April 1995 vs Sheffield Wednesday (7-1).
- Only Burnley (31) and Tottenham Hotspur (30) have conceded more goals in the Premier League in 2026 than Sunderland (27) – at the turn of the year of this season, only Arsenal (12) and Manchester City (17) had conceded fewer goals in the top-flight than the Black Cats (18).
- Only Tottenham Hotspur (65% – 20/31) have won a greater proportion of their total points in the Premier League this season in away games than Nottingham Forest (54% – 21/39).
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