Vítor Pereira had promised Nottingham Forest would approach this assignment with a “Champions League mentality” and his players did not disappoint him. A fabulous attacking performance not merely succeeded in ruining Sunderland’s lingering European ambitions but also lifted 16th-placed Forest to 39 points. That is within touching distance of safety and given Pereira’s team are now six points clear of West Ham and eight in front of Tottenham, the struggle to avoid the final remaining relegation place is surely between the two London clubs now.
Elliot Anderson, who scored Forest’s fifth goal, said: “I didn’t think we could top the other day [against Burnley], but we did. It shows the character and confidence we have right now going into games. Most of it comes from the gaffer. It’s been a difficult season but we’re settled now and we’ve got a good way of playing. [On setting up Chris Wood’s goal] He’s had a tough time with injury, and then a few games back without getting his first goal, so the first thought in my mind was to give it to him. I had no doubt he’d tuck it away. He deserves it; he’s worked so hard to come back and help the boys. [On his World Cup chances] My full focus is on getting Forest safe and seeing how far we can go in the Europa League. I can only control my performances here. Whatever will be, will be. We’ve put ourselves in a good position [to stay up] but we’ve got a tough run of games so we have to remain focussed.”
Anderson added: “We’re on a good run at the minute. It took a while but we fully believe in ourselves, the manager is right behind us and we’re enjoying it. [On his goal] I was really happy to score here, and I know my mum (who died earlier this month) would have been proud as well, so I’m happy.”
Pereira said: “It was just building on what we did in the second half last week. We wanted to start fast and to do what we did was fantastic. [On Anderson] He’s an extraordinary man. The stuff he and his family have gone through in the last couple of weeks is truly heartbreaking. That goal was a tribute to his mum, definitely, and Helen’s always in our thoughts.”
And then there were two. The relegation battle, surely, is between West Ham and Tottenham now. Nottingham Forest have roared to the brink of safety by scoring nine goals in the last game and a half. They made a mockery of what looked a very tough fixture by scoring four goals in 21 delirious first-half minutes. And now they can really enjoy the Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa.
The perfect finish for Forest. Elliot Anderson, once of Newcastle and now one of the best midfield players in the entire country, has scored Forest’s fifth goal. Dominguez and Awoniyi played their part in a nice move before Anderson swept a first-time shot past Roefs from 15 yards.
90 min: Seven minutes of added time, much of it for the VAR check that led to Ballard’s goal being disallowed. 89 min: Brobbey goes down after a handsy challenge from the last man Milenkovic. The referee isn’t interested, nor are VAR. There wasn’t a great deal of contact. 88 min: Forest substitution Taiwo Awoniyi replaces Chris Wood, whose expertly taken goal put Forest 2-0 up in the first half.
Milenkovic’s clearance goes as far as Le Fee, 25 yards from goal. He chests the ball down and cuts across a ferocious shot that is pawed over superbly by Sels as he flies to his right. That’s easily the best save of the night. 85 min: Isidor, 20 yards out, hits a smart shot on the turn that is held to his right by Sels. Decent save. The second half has been a non-event, no great surprise given the scoreline.
81 min: Xhaka waves a fine pass over the top to Isidor, whose cutback is cleared at the near post by Morato. 79 min: I’m not sure whether this is relevant to Forest anymore, but West Ham and Spurs are both in action at 3pm tomorrow. 76 min: Alderete sprays a half-volley over the bar from distance. And why not? 76 min: Yates pushes Mukiele over and is booked. That’s the seventh yellow card of the game, all in the last 25 minutes.
74 min: Xhaka shoots wide from distance, turns round and gives the referee a mouthful about something or other. He’s booked. 72 min: Forest haven’t really bothered to attack in the second half. They’ve had no shots and one touch in the Sunderland box; given the scoreline, that’s more than enough. 69 min: Forest continue to collect yellow cards. This time it’s Williams, who crumps Reinildo on the foot after being beaten to a 50/50 ball.
67 min: Double substitution for Forest Ryan Yates and Luca Netz replace Igor Jesus and Omari Hutchinson. Forest play Aston Villa at the City Ground next Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final, so this is a decent opportunity to rest players. 66 min: That VAR check took almost five minutes; Sunderland will hope they can regain the momentum they had before the goal that wasn’t. 65 min: Sunderland substitution Wilson Isidor comes on for Habib Diarra.
65 min: Mukiele slipped after keeping that Xhaka free-kick alive and then accidentally tripped Sels, who might otherwise have got to the ball before Ballard. 62 min: The offside has been cleared but now there’s another VAR check for a possible foul by Mukiele on Sels. I think this will go against Sunderland. Xhaka’s free-kick was lobbed across the six-yard box by Mukiele - I’m not sure whether he was going for goal or not - and headed in by Ballard. There’s a VAR check for offside against Mukiele but I think the goal will stand. A deserved goal for Sunderland. They and their fans have been brilliant since half-time, almost absurdly so given the scoreline.
60 min: Now Igor Jesus is booked for lunging Reinildo. 58 min: The home crowd, who were already making quite a racket, go up a level when the former Newcastle midfielder Anderson is booked for a foul. 57 min: Xhaka fires a fine pass into Alderete, whose shot on the turn is saved easily by Sels. It can’t be much fun resuming a match when you’re 4-0 down at home, but Sunderland are playing with admirable intent.
52 min: Hutchinson gets to the byline and somehow digs out a cross that is volleyed back across goal by Anderson. The ball hits Hume and goes behind for… a goalkick. Hutchinson’s cross was adjudged to have gone out of play before swinging back in. 51 min: Dominguez is booked for a tactical foul on Diarra, who is also booked for waving an imaginary card. 50 min: Forest substitution Morato replaces Jair Cunha, who shakes his head repeatedly as he is walked off the field. 48 min: Jair Cunha may need to come off. He fell badly on his shoulder after a challenge with Brobbey; Morato is warming up. 46 min: The second half gets under way. Both teams have made a substitution. Nottm Forest: Nicolas Dominguez for Ibrahim Sangare.
There were boos at the half-time whistle, and it looks like Nordi Mukiele had a full and frank exchange of views with some of the home fans.
Zadie Smith once wrote that “the square mile around Arsenal’s stadium could be a suitable surrogate for the whole wide world”. Perhaps you only really glimpse this on a match day, when the jerk chicken grills and paella pans fire up and belch delicious smoke across the rows of terraced houses, when the locals in weathered replica shirts brush shoulders with tourists bearing selfie sticks, when a small group of dedicated volunteers at a kiosk by the Ken Friar Bridge accepts non-perishable donations for the Islington food bank.
And you shall scoff, and you shall sneer, because there is a north London of the popular imagination, and Islington in particular, which has become a surrogate for something else entirely. A slur, an insult, a byword for privilege and entitlement and metropolitan effeteness, the place of Blair and Corbyn and Starmer and a shrink on every street corner. North London is elite, north London is out of touch, north London looks down on the rest of you while eating plates of £16 pasta.
In this telling the idea of Arsenal surrendering a nine-point lead in the Premier League title race feels richly poetic: just and right and perhaps even moral. The neutrals have swung firmly behind Manchester City, who assumed the lead with a 1-0 win over Burnley on Wednesday night. After all, Pep Guardiola’s team play fair, play football in the way it is supposed to be played, brook no underlying ethical or geopolitical objections.
Manchester, as we know, is a city entirely devoid of liberal sensibilities or progressive sentiment. Every title race needs a hero and a heel, and while these two clubs may be inseparable in terms of points or goal difference, while many have no strong feelings about who should win, there appears to be a tightening consensus over who should lose.
At half-time last Sunday, Forest were 1-0 down at home to Burnley and in a spot of bother. Since then they’ve scored eight goals without reply - four at the City Ground last Sunday, four during a crazy first half at the Stadium of Light. An unfortunate own goal from Trai Hume was followed by accomplished finishes from Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus. When it starts to make sense, I’ll let you know.
44 min: This will make it 12 points in the last six league games for Forest, who are surely/almost certainly staying up. 43 min: It’s still 4-0, and it’s still mildly bonkers.
39 min: “It does feel like Forest are not so much inching away from relegation as they’re strapped to a rocket towards safety,” writes Kári Tulinius. “In another game tonight, Stade Brestois lead RC Lens 3-0 at half time, surely ending the latter’s unlikely title tilt. This is the part of the season where nearly stories sputter to a halt.” Oh, thanks a lot for bringing up 1991-92 again. It’s too soon!
Forest have now scored eight goals in their last 75 minutes of football. A free-kick from the right was cleared as far as Aina on the edge of the D. His snapshot hit a defender and looped across goal to Igor Jesus, who cushioned a terrific volley into the net. 36 min: The relegation battle now looks like a two-horse race between West Ham and Spurs. This is beyond Forest’s wildest ones. A corner on the left was taken short and curled beyond the far post by Williams. Igor Jesus headed it down to Gibbs-White, 12 yards out, and he cracked an emphatic finish through the crowd.