Sunderland vs Nottingham Forest: Awoniyi impresses in cameo as Tricky Trees drift away from relegation

The visitors were looking to extend their unbeaten run across all competitions, but faced a difficult trip to Sunderland.

Victor Pereira’s side heads into the clash, unbeaten in their last eight games and looking to increase their point gap at the bottom of the table.

Extending their streak to nine games, they emphatically defeated Sunderland 5-0 at the Stadium of Light, placing them in 16th position on the table.

For Sunderland, Trai Hume and Dan Ballard came in for Luke O'Nien and Reinildo Mandava, who both dropped to the bench.

On the other hand, Ola Aina made the starting line-up for Nottingham Forest, while Taiwo Awoniyi made the bench despite scoring against Tottenham.

The visitors started the game on the front foot and scored very early in the game, courtesy of an own goal from Trai Hume of Sunderland.

Following the opening goal, Forest became ruthless in front of the goal, scoring three goals from Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus, putting them out of sight in the first half.

The second half was more of Nottingham Forest controlling the game and denying the Black Cats from making any surprises.

However, following the introduction of Awoniyi, the visitors' attack sprang into life again, and they scored the fifth goal to seal the game.

The Super Eagles star was at the centre of the goal after doing really well to hold the ball up, which allowed Elliot Anderson to run onto it and just pass into the bottom corner.

The victory pushed Forest farther away from the relegation zone, and they are now eight points clear of Tottenham.