Chants of “we want eight” echoed around the City Ground towards the end of a stunning afternoon for Nottingham Forest. Nuno Espírito Santo had demanded an instant response after last weekend’s humiliation at Bournemouth, and here was his vision in glorious high definition as Forest secured their biggest ever Premier League win. Any slight fears over Forest’s season fizzling out were emphatically destroyed in a display which keeps them right in the mix for Champions League football.

Chris Wood has now amassed his highest amount of goals in the Premier League and became the first player to score a hat-trick at this stadium in the top division since Nigel Clough in 1987. Morgan Gibbs-White marks his 100th Nottingham Forest appearance with a goal 🔥. 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/6LEFyhqbeS. There were other scintillating performances from the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White and Anthony Elanga, and Forest’s 5-0 defeat at Bournemouth last Saturday has quickly been put to bed.

The last time Forest scored seven goals at this level, in 1995, they finished third in the table and had a highly influential forward in Stan Collymore, who ended the season with 22 goals. With Wood now on 17 goals, could they repeat that achievement 30 years on? Like unwanted guests at a private function, Forest are refusing to leave the party and optimism continues to build over a potential return to European football.

Nuno said: “The response of the players was beyond our expectations. It is not normal to get results like this in the Premier League. “When you get beaten, you have to get up. We will not look at the table but the fans can continue to dream. “We kept going and what I really liked about it was the intensity, and ruthless way we wanted to keep scoring goals.”. While Forest were electric, Brighton were dreadful, in defensive disarray and frequently exposed by a team clearly intent on erasing the memories of their last match. Fabian Hürzeler, the Brighton manager, was booked for the fifth time this season and endured an excruciating afternoon. His team have secured just two wins from the past 12 league matches.

Without the injured Pervis Estupiñán and Ferdi Kadioglu, Brighton were punished down the left time and time again. It was their heaviest defeat in 67 years and Hürzeler said it was his lowest moment in football management so far, albeit at the age of 31. “It’s not an easy one to take and we need to keep staying positive and finding solutions,” he said. “We were all not at our highest level and we have to be honest with ourselves. I have to give my players the right advice to get back on the running track.

“The fans spend a lot of money and time to watch us and they are very disappointed with the result so we have to apologise.”. Forest’s heavy defeat at Bournemouth must feel like a trick of the imagination now. Nuno had made no attempt to downplay the last three halves of football before this game, with his team conceding seven and failing to score. The result never looked in doubt from the moment Brighton captain Lewis Dunk diverted Gibbs-White’s cross into his own net after 12 minutes. Gibbs-White increased Forest’s lead with a near-post header from Anthony Elanga’s corner.

Elanga then delivered the cross for Chris Wood to head in from close range. It required a ridiculously long VAR check before the goal was ruled onside, underlining the importance of introducing semi-automated offsides. Brighton were poor and their best chance came six minutes before half-time when Danny Welbeck’s shot was tipped on to the crossbar by Matz Sels. Desperately close from Danny Welbeck 🫣.

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/EJlpEgYkOj. Hürzeler made a triple substitution at half-time and though it sparked an improvement, Brighton never looked capable of getting back into the game. Forest added a fourth goal in the 64th minute when Wood converted another Elanga cross. That was a hat-trick of assists from Elanga, who had an excellent afternoon. Wood claimed his hat-trick from the spot after Tariq Lamptey pulled down Gibbs-White in the penalty area. Neco Williams crashed in the sixth before substitute Jota Silva added the final gloss with a ruthless finish.

It is all about the attitude from the lads. We wated to start the game on the front foot and we did. Then we said let’s kleep going for more. We know how it felt last week and we wanted to make sure that Brighton felt the same. It is always nice to contribute. You could see I kept on running at the end because I wanted a goal. I said to Chris [Wood] at half time: “Let’s keep pushing for more.” I’m happy he got the hat-trick of goals. The most important thing is to win and we did that.

What a difference a week can make. Down in the dumps after last week. It wasn’t us, it wasn’t like us, but today that was definitely us. It is all credit to the team. This lad [Elanga] puts it on a plate for me so it makes my job easier every time. Then Morgs [Gibbs-White] handed me the penalty for the hat-trick. It’s fantastic, the boys have done superbly showing character to come back from last week. That is what we’re about.