EPL: Wood grabs hat-trick as Nottingham Forest batter Brighton 7-0
Source:TodayFeedsMedia
EPL: Wood grabs hat-trick as Nottingham Forest batter Brighton 7-0Image
Nottingham Forest’s New Zealand striker #11 Chris Wood (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring his third goal, their fifth, from the penalty spot during the English Premier League football match between Nottingham Forest and Brighton and Hove Albion at The City Ground in Nottingham, central England, on February 1, 2025. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Chris Wood netted a hat-trick as Nottingham Forest thrashed Brighton 7-0 to reignite their charge towards next season’s Champions League at the City Ground on Saturday.
Morgan Gibbs-White, Neco Williams and Jota Silva were also on target after Lewis Dunk’s own goal opened the scoring in an astonishing performance from Nuno Espirito Santo’s men as they bounced back from a 5-0 defeat at Bournemouth last weekend.
Victory takes Forest level on points with second-placed Arsenal and opens up a seven-point cushion on sixth-placed Chelsea.
Fifth place in the Premier League this season is almost certain to be enough for Champions League qualification due to a strong start by English clubs in European competitions.
Two-time European Cup winners in 1979 and 1980 during the club’s heyday under Brian Clough, Forest last played in Europe back in 1996.
But a run of 10 wins from their last 12 games has put them well on course to end that two-decade wait for continental competition.
Forest became just the second side in Premier League history to respond to losing a game by five or more goals by winning by that margin.
“That is exactly what we wanted after last week, and exactly what the fans wanted,” said Gibbs-White.
“Last week was no way near our standards and we have been working on things to put it right all week in training and the lads were incredible today.
“We completely nullified everything they did and caught them a couple of times on the counter. We were clinical in the final third.”
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler set out with a bold selection that included five forwards in his starting 11.
