Recap

Premier League Match Preview: Nottingham Forest vs Burnley

Morgan Gibbs-White’s hat-trick boosted Nottingham Forest’s hopes of staying up as they recovered from a goal down to thrash Burnley 4-1 and move five points clear of the bottom three.

The England international recorded his first treble for Forest, scoring three times in the space of 15 second-half minutes in an impressive comeback win at the City Ground.

Burnley went ahead in the second minute of first-half added time, with striker Zian Flemming netting his ninth Premier League goal of the campaign.

However, Gibbs-White took centre stage with a trio of superb finishes to round off a brilliant week, having also scored the winner in Thursday’s UEFA Europa League victory over Porto.

Igor Jesus netted in the eighth minute of stoppage time to add further gloss to an emphatic victory for 16th-place Forest, while 19th-place Burnley remain firmly in the relegation zone.

How the match unfolded

A quiet first half almost came to life in the 25th minute, as Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels got down well to push away Burnley midfielder James Ward-Prowse’s dipping free-kick.

But the visitors punished Forest’s flat display in first-half stoppage time, as Flemming swept past Sels following a patient build-up.

The hosts improved after the break. Gibbs-White failed to connect with a volley, but the Forest captain made no mistake in the 62nd minute, slotting home after former Forest man Ward-Prowse failed to cut out a ball back into the Burnley box.

Gibbs-White then completed the turnaround on 69 minutes, thumping in a volley from team-mate Omari Hutchinson’s cross.

The playmaker then made it a hat-trick eight minutes later, sending a looping header from Ryan Yates’ centre beyond Burnley ‘keeper Martin Dubravka’s despairing dive.

Substitute Jesus raced away to add a fourth in stoppage time, as the hosts took a big step towards securing their Premier League status.