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.

Data Debrief: Five-star display from Forest

Sunderland suffered their 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 the Tricky Trees' biggest away win in the top-flight since April 1995 versus Sheffield Wednesday (7-1).

And Vitor Pereira's side were well worth their victory, producing 1.3 expected goals (xG) from 10 shots to Sunderland's 0.67 from 14 attempts, nine of which came after half-time as the visitors sat back.

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.