Nottingham Forest got back to winning ways in emphatic fashion as a Chris Wood hat trick helped them to a comprehensive 7-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at the City Ground in the Premier League.
The result comes one week after Forest's humiliating 5-0 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth, but the Reds certainly showed no signs of scars as it took them just 12 minutes to take the lead courtesy of an unfortunate own goal from Lewis Dunk.
The home side doubled their lead soon after when Anthony Elanga's corner found the head of Morgan Gibbs-White, whose glancing header flew past Bart Verbruggen in the Brighton goal.
The visitors hadn't played badly, but Forest were proving to be clinical with every attack they had as their two-goal lead then became three when Elanga picked out Wood at the back post who headed home from close range.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first as Wood tucked home another Elanga cross to score Forest's fourth goal of the game, before the striker wrapped up his hat trick from the penalty spot just minutes later.
Neco Williams got in on the act as he scored his first goal of the season in the 88th minute, before substitute Jota Silva capitalised on a Verbruggen error in stoppage time to wrap up a memorable 7-0 win over the Seagulls.
Story of the Match
Nuno Espírito Santo made two changes to the Nottingham Forest side that lost 5-0 to Bournemouth in their last outing, with Morato and Danilo coming into the side in place of Ryan Yates and Jota.
Despite the heavy defeat at the Vitality Stadium, Forest have been a much stronger side when playing at home this season as they headed into the match unbeaten in their previous six games at the City Ground - a run which included five wins and a draw.
As for the visitors, Fabian Hürzeler made three changes to the Brighton side that lost 1-0 against Everton last weekend, bringing Jack Hinshelwood, Yankuba Minteh and Georginio Rutter into the starting lineup in place of Carlos Baleba, Yasin Ayari and Brajan Gruda.
Brighton came into the game sat in ninth position in the Premier League table with their European qualification hopes still very much alive, and knew that a fourth-straight away win would momentarily take them up to eighth place ahead of Aston Villa.
First Half Stunner
The two sides both had spells of possession to open the match, but it was the home side who took the lead after 12 minutes in rather fortuitous fashion.
Gibbs-White was played through by Danilo down the right-hand-side and the Englishman fizzed a dangerous ball across the face of goal, a cross which Dunk inadvertently turned into his own net as the Tricky Trees went ahead.
The home fans were in full voice after their side took the lead, and they soon had even more to cheer about as Forest doubled their lead after 26 minutes.
Elanga swung in a fierce corner towards the near post, where a glancing header from the on-rushing Gibbs-White flew past Verbruggen in the Brighton goal.
Nottingham Forest smelt blood, and they had two golden opportunities to make it 3-0 just minutes later as Williams struck the post from a long range effort, before Wood stung the palms of Verbruggen with a powerful strike.
Having just missed a great chance, Wood managed to get his name on the scoresheet just seconds later after Elanga picked out the New Zealand international at the back post with a great cross, with the striker heading home from close range.
Brighton were capitulating, although it looked as though they had finally got themselves on the scoresheet when Danny Welbeck saw his effort tipped by Matz Sels onto the underside of the crossbar and seemingly over the line. Unfortunately for him, the goal-line technology showed that the ball hadn't fully crossed the line, only adding to Brighton's first half woes.
Second Half
Brighton needed a big response in the second half, and Hürzeler opted to make three half-time changes as Matt O'Riley, Diego Gomez and Simon Adingra were brought on in place of Hinshelwood, João Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma to try and change their fortunes.
The Seagulls made a much better start to the second half as they looked much more organised at the back and showed plenty of attacking intent.
Unfortunately for the visitors, they were not able to capitalise and they conceded for a fourth time just after the hour mark as the duo of Elanga and Wood hurt them again.
The Swede burst down the right and played another inviting ball across the face of goal, with Wood on hand to tap into an empty net from just yards out.
Things then went from bad to even worse for Brighton when referee Simon Hooper awarded Forest a penalty when Tariq Lamptey wrestled Gibbs-White to the floor during a corner kick.
It was Wood who stepped up and he duly dispatched the penalty to score his second hat trick for the club, and Brighton's nightmare did not end there.
Williams got his name on the scoresheet for the first time this season with just minutes to go to score his side's sixth goal of the afternoon, before the substitute Jota rounded off the scoring as the match finished 7-0 to Nottingham Forest.
The win sees Espírito Santo's men go level on points with Arsenal with the Gunners set to take on Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, whilst Brighton left themselves susceptible to being leapfrogged by Fulham and Brentford in ninth place should the two London clubs collect all three points in their respective matches.
Player of the Match - Chris Wood
The Player of the Match award could have gone to several players with Elanga contributing three assists and the captain Gibbs-White leading by example, but it is Wood who will take the award home as well as the match ball.
His fairytale season reached new heights as his hat trick took the game away from Brighton in what was a true striker's performance.
Wood is quickly becoming a fan-favourite at the City Ground, and it was clear to see why against the Seagulls as he took his goal tally for the season to 17 goals, proving to be a thorn in the Brighton defence all afternoon.
