Morgan Gibbs-White inspired Nottingham Forest to a clinical win at Wolves, in front of new England manager Thomas Tuchel.
The midfielder’s early opener silenced the jeers from the home fans, with Gibbs-White having left Molineux for Forest in 2022.
Chris Wood added a 12th goal of the season just before half-time before Taiwo Awoniyi tapped in a third after a counter-attack in stoppage time.
Yet the hosts had their chances with Joao Gomes and Jorgen Strand Larsen seeing efforts saved by Forest keeper Matz Sels, while Larsen was also thwarted by Murillo’s goalline clearance.
Forest’s 12th win, three more than during the whole of the last campaign, came from two of their biggest weapons and showed teams are still struggling to find ways to stop them.
Gibbs-White’s seventh-minute goal came after a rapid break while Wood tapped in from six yards after excellent wide play from Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Simple but incredibly effective, Tuchel would have been impressed by Forest’s ruthless efficiency and Gibbs-White, who made his England debut in September, will surely be in his thoughts for March’s World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side remain third in the Premier League, six points behind leaders Liverpool, who they host in their next league game on 14 January. They are behind second-placed Arsenal on goal difference after a sixth straight victory – the first time they have won six successive top-flight matches in the same season in 58 years.
Wolves were the latest vanquished foes as Vitor Pereira suffered his first defeat since replacing Gary O’Neil as manager last month.
But for Sels’ heroics the hosts could have been 2-1 ahead instead of 2-0 behind at the break, although they clearly need reinforcements.
They are close to signing Reims centre-back Emmanuel Agbadou for £16.6m but Pereira had 16-year-old defender Wes Okoduwa on the substitutes’ bench and an injection of quality is needed with Wolves only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.
