Nottingham Forest Rout Sunderland 5-0, Moving Vitor Pereira’s Side to 39 Points

Nottingham Forest took a huge step toward ensuring their Premier League survival with a 5-0 win at Sunderland on Friday at the Stadium of Light, sending shivers down the spine of Tottenham Hotspur fans.

“And then there were two”

BBC

The BBC described the result as “a sensational 5-0 win on Friday,” and said it moved Vitor Pereira’s side on to 39 points, “eight clear of 18th-placed Tottenham and six clear of 17th-placed West Ham.”

BBC

ESPN framed the same outcome as “Nottingham Forest rout adds 'pressure' to Spurs, West Ham,” while NBC Sports highlighted that “Gibbs-White's hot streak moves Tricky Trees eight clear of relegation zone.”

The Washington Post, citing Associated Press, said Forest “rose eight points clear of the relegation zone” and that the win came “Less than a week after beating Burnley 4-1.”

On the scoreboard, NBC Sports listed the goals as “Trai Hume o.g. 17', Chris Wood 31', Morgan Gibbs-White 34', Igor Jesus 37', Elliot Anderson 90+5'.”

ESPN and NBC Sports both emphasized how quickly the match swung, with ESPN describing Forest’s first-half burst and NBC Sports noting that “The visitors scored four of their goals in the first half.”

The win reshaped the relegation picture in a way that multiple outlets quantified in terms of points and remaining fixtures.

The BBC said Forest’s tally moved to 39 points and noted that “It is 15 years since a team was last relegated from the Premier League with 39 points,” adding that “Twenty-three teams have been on exactly 39 points after 34 games across Premier League history - and none of them have gone down.”

Heavy

It also laid out a statistical argument about survival, saying that “the average points tally of the side finishing 18th is 34.5 - so 35 points is, on average, good enough for survival,” and that “over the past five seasons the average points tally for 18th has dropped to 29.6.”

ESPN connected the result to the wider relegation scramble by stating that “With Burnley and Wolves already relegated, Spurs or West Ham are now the most likely candidates to join them.”

The Washington Post similarly described Spurs as being in the third relegation spot and said Spurs “occupy the third relegation spot, two points behind West Ham.”

The BBC then turned to what comes next, listing Forest’s remaining league matches as “against Chelsea, Newcastle, Manchester United and Bournemouth,” while Tottenham’s run includes “Wolves, Aston Villa, Leeds, Chelsea and Everton.”

West Ham’s schedule, according to the BBC, still has “Everton, Brentford, Arsenal, Newcastle and Leeds.”

Even the Asian-language report framed the stakes through probabilities, saying “According to calculations by the football statistics platform 'Opta' using a supercomputer, Nottingham Forest's relegation probability has dropped to 0.65%,” while Tottenham’s “has surged to 61.01%.”

Voices from the match and the relegation fight underscored that Forest’s margin still required more work, while Tottenham and West Ham faced mounting pressure.

“The Nottingham Forest vs Sunderland results on April 24, 2026, delivered one of the biggest scorelines of the Premier League weekend”

Heavy

The BBC quoted Forest boss Vitor Pereira telling Match of the Day that his side’s tally “isn't enough” to stay up quite yet, adding, “We need more points, we need to win more games and we need to keep our mentality,” and it also captured Jamie Redknapp saying, “You are asking Tottenham to win four games... is that going to be possible? We don't know.”

NBC Sports quoted Chris Wood saying the win “gives us some breathing room and puts pressure on the two chasing behind,” and it also quoted Wood’s view that “Back-to-back wins do that for you.”

ESPN reported Pereira’s insistence that the team could not relax, quoting him saying, “It's fantastic, fantastic,” and describing his message that “I asked my team to play at the level of Champions League because the Premier League is our Champions League.”

ESPN also included Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka’s reaction, with Xhaka saying, “What I can say is that we apologise to our fans.”

On the other side of the table, ESPN quoted Tottenham boss De Zerbi saying “Spurs 'suffering' can change with one win,” and the BBC quoted De Zerbi directly: “a win can change this part of the season,” while adding, “We are suffering, they are suffering because it is not easy to play in Tottenham in this condition of the table.”

The BBC also included Forest striker Wood’s post-match line that survival “is in touching distance,” and said Wood added, “I don't think it's done. But it's a big mental one and back-to-back wins puts us in a good position.”

Even the Washington Post, through Associated Press, framed the emotional impact as “sent shivers down the spine of Tottenham Hotspur fans,” tying the quotes back to the pressure on rivals.

Match reporting across outlets emphasized a rapid first-half collapse by Sunderland and a sequence of decisive contributions by Forest players.

NBC Sports described how “Red-hot Morgan Gibbs-White may have just boosted Nottingham Forest clear of relegation danger with a goal and an assist,” and it said “The visitors scored four of their goals in the first half.”

조선일보

It also detailed the goal pattern: “Trai Hume o.g. 17', Chris Wood 31', Morgan Gibbs-White 34', Igor Jesus 37', Elliot Anderson 90+5'.”

ESPN’s match narrative similarly described Sunderland’s lead being overturned early and said Forest took the lead after 16 minutes when “Igor Jesus' header went in off Trai Hume,” then added that “Gibbs-White made it 3-0 three minutes later” before Jesus scored again to make it 4-0.

ESPN also reported that “Sunderland's Dan Ballard had a goal chalked off after a video review in the second half,” and it said Elliot Anderson’s late strike “confirmed Sunderland's heaviest ever defeat at the Stadium of Light.”

The Heavy outlet, while using a different framing, still matched the core sequence by describing an early own goal and then a run of quick goals, stating “Sunderland fell behind in the 17th minute when Trai Hume scored an own goal” and that “Igor Jesus then made it 4-0 in the 37th minute.”

Heavy also described a VAR moment, saying “Sunderland thought they had scored through Daniel Ballard, but the goal was ruled out,” and it added that “Officials confirmed that Nordi Mukiele fouled Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels in the buildup.”

NBC Sports provided the disallowed goal mechanics, stating “After review, Mukiele gets a piece of Matz Sels before the keeper can get to the loose ball.”

After the 5-0 result, the outlets laid out what comes next for both clubs, while also quantifying how the win changed the relegation outlook.

“Democracy Dies in Darkness By Associated Press SUNDERLAND, England — Nottingham Forest took a huge step toward ensuring its Premier League survival in a stunning 5-0 win at Sunderland on Friday”

The Washington Post

NBC Sports said “What’s next? Forest host Aston Villa on Thursday in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League semifinal tie, then visit Chelsea on Monday, May 4 in the Premier League,” and it added that “Sunderland face relegated Wolves at the Molineux on Saturday, May 2.”

BBC

The BBC’s preview section focused on the immediate relegation pressure, noting that “While Nottingham Forest struck the first blow of the weekend on Friday, Tottenham and West Ham - unusually - both play at the same time on Saturday,” with “The Hammers host Everton” and “Spurs visiting already relegated Wolves.”

ESPN echoed the pressure theme by saying the win “gives us some breathing room and puts pressure on the two chasing behind,” and it also described the broader context of Burnley and Wolves being relegated already.

The Asian-language report added a probability lens, stating “Nottingham Forest's relegation probability has dropped to 0.65%,” while “West Ham's stands at 37.98%, and Tottenham's has surged to 61.01%.”

It also described Tottenham’s next match as “an away match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on the 25th is a must-win,” and said Tottenham had “managed only six draws and nine losses in their last 15 games.”

The BBC, meanwhile, kept the focus on points and fixtures, saying “Mathematically, eight more points ensures next season will be Forest's fifth consecutive campaign in the top flight,” and it added that “In theory Tottenham could finish on 46 points, but that would require them to win all five of their final five games.”

Even the Washington Post’s Associated Press framing tied the future to the table, saying Forest “rose eight points clear of the relegation zone” and that the result “sent shivers down the spine of Tottenham Hotspur fans.”