Key events
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.
Jonathan Liew
Half-time reading
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.
Half time: Sunderland 0-4 Nottm Forest
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.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-4 Nottm Forest (Igor Jesus 37)
What the actual Forest?!
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.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-3 Nottm Forest (Gibbs-White 34)
Gibbs-White didn’t control the ball that time either. He just lashed it first time into the net!
33 min Almost a third for Forest! After a quick break, Hutchinson hammered a ball across the face of goal; it then bounced awkwardly at Gibbs-White, who couldn’t quite control it.
Roefs tried a very risky straight pass that was partially intercepted by the stretching Wood. The ball deflected to Gibbs-White, who assessed the angles in a split-second and fired a superb pass back into Wood. He took a quick touch to control the ball and clipped it past the outrushing Roefs. It’s his first Premier League goal since August.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-2 Nottm Forest (Wood 31)
Chris Wood gobbles up a gift from Robin Roefs to double Forest’s lead!
28 min Gibbs-White’s long-range shot is headed away by Ballard, but Forest regain possession and Hutchinson wins a corner. They’re playing some excellent football.
26 min Le Fee’s free-kick hits the top of the ball. Sunderland keep it alive until Alderete heads over from 14 yards. Good luck with that.
25 min Lovely feet from Le Fee, who draws a foul from Milenkovic just outside the area. The free-kick is to the right of centre, with Xhaka and Le Fee are over the ball…
24 min A heavy touch from Williams jiggers another promising Forest move. They’re having an excellent spell.
23 min As it stands, Forest are (almost certainly) staying up.
22 min Wood, released by an excellent pass from Anderson, runs at a static Sunderland defence and forces a left-foot shot from the edge of the area that is pushed away by Roefs. The shot was too close to him.
19 min At the other end, Sadiki makes room for a shot that is well blocked.
Igor Jesus wheeled away in celebration but replays show it was an own goal from Trai Hume. Omari Hutchinson took a short corner on the right, got it back and curled a booming cross beyond the far post. Igor Jesus met it near the byline with a header across goal that hit the back of Trai Hume’s head and flew into the net. Roefs had no chance.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-1 Nottm Forest (Hume og 17)
Forest take the lead!
15 min What a run from Dan Ballard! He was starting to make his way back following a Sunderland corner when he spotted the chance to muscle Anderson off the ball 25 yards from goal. Then he slipped past Aina in the area, resisted Aina’s recovery tackle and screwed a low ball that ran right across the face of goal. All hail Dan Beckenballard.
13 min: Good save by Roefs! Alderete plays a poor pass out of defence that goes straight to Igor Jesus. He finds Hutchinson, whose whipped shot from the edge of the area is pushed away by the diving Roefs. It’s a good save but Hutchinson’s shot wasn’t right in the corner.
11 min Anderson’s dangerous cross is shanked behind for a corner by Hume. Nowt comes of it.
10 min Sadiki has had his hand bandaged and is back on the field.
9 min Sadiki has gone to the touchline for more treatment to his hand.
8 min: Chance for Rigg! Le Fee takes advantage of a ricochet to collect a loose ball and put Rigg through on goal to his right. He opens his body but sidefoots straight at Selz from 15 yards.
6 min Both sides have started pretty well, with the game being played at a nice pace.
At least it was being played a nice pace: there is currently a short break in play while Sadiki receives treatment. Sangare accidentally stood on his hand.
3 min A regrettable square pass from Sadiki, deep in his own half, is nicked by Hutchinson. Alderete makes an immportant challenge on the edge of the area and Anderson’s long-range shot deflects over the bar for a corner.
The corner is half cleared to Williams, who mishits a difficult volley well wide.
1 min Forest kick off from left to right as we watch. You can’t beat an evening match starting in daylight.
As usual, there’s a cracking atmosphere at the Stadium of Light. The players are ready for action. Shall we?
Regis Le Bris talks to Sky Sports
[On the 4-3 defeat at Villa] We tried to impose our ideas at Villa – it wasn’t easy because they have many good players – but we tried. It was a tight game and we had the opportunity to win it.
[On Sunderland’s European hopes] The most important thing is to win games. The first step is to be strong at home. The middle of the table is tight; if you don’t win, you can’t expect anything.
Vitor Pereira talks to Sky Sports
[On Forest’s excellent form] I think we’ve been more consistent mentally and tactically. We’ve had more time to work so the players know what we want better than before.
[On picking Igor Jesus and Chris Wood together] We need to score goals. They are two players who work a lot defensively, which means I can play both of them.
Sunderland are a strong team, especially at home – very competitive with quality. We need to treat this like a Champions League game.
“While no one expected Forest to maintain last season’s performance level, it was inconceivable that they would be flirting with relegation by May,” writes Krishnamoothy V. “Did Forest lose it when they parted with Nuno?”
I think they parted with Nuno because they’d lost it. But I really like Vitor Pereira and Forest have looked a top-half side since he took over.
The return fixture at the City Ground helped set the tone for both teams’ seasons.
Read Louise Taylor’s preview
Team news
Sunderland make two changes, both in defence, to the side that lost 4-3 at Villa Park. Dan Ballard and Trai Hume replace Luke O’Nien and Reinildo.
Forest bring in Jair Cunha and Igor Jesus for Murillo, who has a muscle injury, and Dilane Bakwa. Igor Jesus came off the bench at half-time last weekend, with Forest losing at home to Burnley, and scored the final goal in their 4-1 win. The man who scored the first three, Morgan Gibbs-White, will roam from the left.
Sunderland (4-2-3-1) Roefs; Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Hume; Xhaka, Sadiki; Rigg, Diarra, Le Fee; Brobbey.
Subs: Ellborg, Cirkin, Reinildo, Geertruida, O’Nien, Talbi, Mayenda, Isidor, H Jones.
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1) Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Jair Cunha, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Hutchinson, Igor Jesus, Gibbs-White; Wood.
Subs: Ortega, Morata, Awoniyi, Ndoye, Dominguez, Yates, McAtee, Netz, Bakwa.
Referee Darren England.
Preamble
Friday night, who wants a fight? Not this peaceable Guardianista, that’s for sure, and not Nottingham Forest. They’re trying to escape a relegation fight – and can go a long way towards achieving that if they win at Sunderland tonight.
Forest are 16th in the table, five points clear of Tottenham with five games remaining. This time last year they were fourth, but although the change in Forest’s league position has made things a lot more complicated, their objective is essentially the same: to play Champions League and Premier League football next season.
Forest play both legs of their humdinging Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa in the next fortnight. A positive result at the Stadium of Light would allow them to embrace that without worrying about what’s over their shoulder.
At the start of the season, most people agreed that Forest’s opponents were never going to be in a relegation battle come late April. That’s because Sunderland were supposed to be long gone by now, with only their parachute for company,. An occasionally flat second half of the season should not obscure a remarkable first season back in the Premier League, one of the best by a promoted team in the past decade.
It’s not over yet. Sunderland start the game in 11th but will move up to eighth – above Chelsea, the world club champions – if they win tonight. Who knows, this time next year they might be in a European semi-final themselves.
Kick off 8pm BST.
