Nottingham Forest celebrate a goal to Chris Wood. Photo: Photosport
All Whites captain Chris Wood has bagged a hat-trick as Nottingham Forest overwhelmed Brighton 7-0 in the English Premier League to consolidate third place.
A week after extending his deal at Forest by two more seasons, Wood underlined his value with three clinical goals, recording his first hat-trick since a win over Newcastle midway through last season.
The 33-year-old lifted his tally for the season to 17 goals, leaving him a narrow third behind league heavyweights Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) and Erling Haaland (Manchester).
It was an emphatic bounce back from Nottingham Forest, who were humbled 5-0 loss at Bournemouth a week earlier.
"What a difference a week can make," Wood told TNT Sports.
"Down in the dumps after last week. It wasn't us, it wasn't like us, but today that was definitely us.
"It's fantastic, the boys have done superbly showing character to come back from last week. That is what we're about."
Forest move to 47 points after 24 games as they chase Champions League qualification, while Brighton are ninth on 34. Forest are now level with second-placed Arsenal, who host Manchester City in fourth on Sunday.
Nuno Espirito Santo's Forest side romped to their biggest margin of victory since a 7-0 rout of Chelsea in 1991.
An own goal from Lewis Dunk in the 12th minute kicked off the scoring as Brighton's skipper lunged to clear Morgan Gibbs-White's low cross and poked the ball into the net.
Gibbs-White doubled Forest's lead in the 25th minute with a glancing header from Anthony Elanga's corner.
Wood, who has scored seven goals in his last six games, netted his first of the day seven minutes later when, left completely unmarked, he headed Elanga's cross past Bart Verbruggen.
Brighton's best effort was Danny Welbeck's rocket from 15 metres that hit the underside of the bar just before halftime.
Wood treble
Forest continued to run riot after the break and the 33-year-old Wood tapped home Elanga's cross in the 64th.
The New Zealand international completed his hat trick five minutes later with a penalty, which was awarded after Tariq Lamptey bundled Gibbs-White to the ground.
Neco Williams got Forest's sixth in the 89th and Jota Silva put the icing on the cake with a low strike in added time as the crowd chanted "We want eight!"
"That is exactly what we wanted after last week, and exactly what the fans wanted," said Forest captain 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, whose loss was their worst since a 9-0 defeat at Middlesbrough on the opening day of the 1958-59 season in the second tier, were under siege all afternoon as Forest attacked in waves and a high-scoring encounter felt inevitable.
Dunk's own goal marked the eighth time this season Forest have got on the scoresheet in the opening 15 minutes in a league match, second only to Tottenham Hotspur.
A terrible day for Brighton could have been worse as Forest also missed numerous chances, including an early shot that Wood nearly diverted into the net and one he launched over the bar.
"After what happened last week, the answer was good," Espirito-Santo said.
"Get punched, you get up. It was fantastic."
- Reuters
