After a tough, stop-start first half, Nottingham Forest found the resolve to put away the chances created in the second half to put Swansea City to the sword.
With the Reds winning 5-1 and Bournemouth beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0, Forest will now take a better goal difference to the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday, in a game that will significantly impact automatic promotion.
Forest had to be patient against Swansea, but a second half demolition puts the Reds in a great position heading into the decisive game against Bournemouth.
Here are some talking points from Nottingham Forest’s 5-1 win over Swansea City.
Second half Reds put an end to Swansea’s longest unbeaten run of the season
Swansea had gone nine games unbeaten before heading to the City Ground and the first half showed their determination to continue that trend.
The Swans had 68% possession and seven goal attempts, with a good goal coming from forward Michael Obafemi. Forest did better Swansea’s goal attempts with eleven shots and managed seven on target, heading into half time wondering how it was just 1-1.
However, Forest continued to create more chances in the second half and didn’t allow Swansea to get away with anything. The Reds had 16 shots, ten on target and scored four. Swansea didn’t manage to put a single shot on target during the second half.
Nottingham Forest’s 17 shots on target is the highest tally of any side in the top four English divisions this season. Manchester City and Liverpool are slightly behind with 15 shots on target in one game.
Forest know just how important goal difference could be in deciding automatic promotion, and after Alex Mighten scored Forest’s fifth, Ryan Yates pulled the ball out of the net in order to urge his teammates on for a sixth goal.
The game ended 5-1 and Forest won their ninth of their last ten Championship games.
Sam Surridge scores first professional hat-trick
Sam Surridge scored his sixth, seventh and eighth goal for Forest in approximately 600 minutes of football at the club.
The clinical striker managed to have nine shots on goal against Swansea - putting seven on target, hitting the woodwork with one and only missing the target once.
The 23-year-old is the first Nottingham Forest player to score a hat-trick for the Reds since Kieran Dowell in 2017 and has started his time at the club exceptionally.
The striker finished the game with one successful dribble, 100% long ball accuracy, two duels won and one clearance.
James Garner shines bright again
Manchester United loanee James Garner shone once again during the victory over Swansea, registering two assists for hat-trick hero Sam Surridge.
The 21-year-old has now been directly involved in 14 goals for Nottingham Forest in all competitions this season (4G, 10A).
James Garner now has more key passes (80) than any other player that is 21 and under in England’s top four divisions.
The midfielder finished the game with 95% pass accuracy, eight key passes, seven accurate crosses, 100% long ball accuracy and 100% dribble success.
As well as performing extremely well in an attacking sense, the 21-year-old also won seven ground duels and completed four tackles, the most of any player on the pitch.