Sunday’s briefing: Forest on fire and Rashford edges closer to Man Utd exit

Big wins for Nottingham Forest and Everton stole the limelight in the Premier League on Saturday.

Forest routed Brighton to strengthen their hold on a top-four place, while Everton punished struggling Leicester in a result that moved them clear of the bottom three at the expense of a Foxes side yet to respond to Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Off the pitch, what could be one of the headline deals of the January transfer window has moved a step closer with Aston Villa closing in on Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.

Forest well and truly bounced back from last week’s 5-0 loss to Bournemouth as they thrashed Brighton 7-0 with the help of a hat-trick from in-form striker Chris Wood.

Nuno Espirito Santo was looking for a response and got an emphatic one as Morgan Gibbs-White pulled the strings, forcing an own goal from Lewis Dunk and scoring one of his own, while Anthony Elanga had a hat-trick of assists, with Neco Williams and Jota Silva also scoring.

“We were looking for a response and our responsibility to do much better,” Nuno said. “Last week was not good enough and the response of the players was beyond our expectations. I’m always looking forward to what I have and I’m hoping it continues. You cannot judge whether it’s the best one or not.

“They were ruthless in their desire, they wanted to show their talent. Morgan was good, Anthony amazing with three assists so overall very good all the players.”

David Moyes said he could not be a magician when he returned to Goodison Park, but Everton fans might disagree after the fourth-fastest goal in Premier League history set them on their way to a 4-0 rout of Leicester that moved then nine points clear of danger.

Abdoulaye Doucoure found the net just 10 seconds in against the