Sunderland vs Nottingham Forest ref watch: Three big Darren England errors, including Elliot Anderson call

Sunderland tasted a rare defeat on home turf as they were demolished 5-0 by Nottingham Forest at the Stadium of Light on Friday night.

Vitor Pereira’s side took another huge step towards Premier League survival with their latest three points, as Trai Hume’s early own goal was followed by a six-minute triple salvo from Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus to cap off a stunning first half.

The visitors weathered an early storm from the Black Cats on Wearside, but carried a significant threat on the break, which saw them terrorise their hosts throughout the opening period, before Elliot Anderson added the fifth in stoppage time.

Forest have found clean sheets hard to come by so far this term, but they defended manfully in the second half to close out their ninth shutout of the league campaign.

It was an all-action encounter as Forest ran out winners over Sunderland, and with that in mind, Football Insider picks out three errors made by referee Darren England.

Darren England gets Elliot Anderson call massively wrong

Anderson has seen his reputation take a remarkable increase after some exceptional performances this season, as his tough-tackling nature has seen him earn plenty of admirers across the Premier League.

The former Newcastle man turned in a typically all-action display against Sunderland on Friday night, but that spilt over into a somewhat nasty challenge on Noah Sadiki in the latter stages of the first half.

The England international arrived late in the tackle and planted his studs into the top of the Sunderland star’s ankle to earn himself a talking to from England.

However, replays showed that the tackle was perhaps a little more dangerous than the man in the middle had first anticipated, and should have undoubtedly resulted in a yellow card.

It was a tackle that didn’t have enough force behind it to warrant a red card, but it was as clear a yellow as you are likely to see, yet England clearly took a different opinion.

Nikola Milenkovic lucky to escape yellow card

Forest were electric throughout the opening period, and it was rare that their opponents got a chance to make their presence felt in the final third.

However, one of their rare forays forward in the first half, Nikola Milenkovic lunged in on Enzo Le Fee on the edge of the box.

The Serbian centre-back mistimed his challenge on the Frenchman and brought him down in a hugely favourable position for the free-kick.

The 28-year-old escaped without sanction for his tackle, but he was perhaps fortunate not to go into the referee’s book, given the fact that Le Fee was in a strong position to create a chance for his team.

It was a challenge that would have had many officials brandishing a card, but England was keen to show patience to Milenkovic, given that it was his first foul of the game.

Brian Brobbey escapes punishment for typical striker’s challenge

Brian Brobbey has made a menace of himself for Premier League defences all season, and he was keen to make his presence felt after being isolated for much of the first half.

Jair Cunha rose to nod away a long ball from the hosts just two minutes into the second half, and he was barrelled over by Brobbey after he had left the ground.

The Dutchman made no attempt to play the ball, and instead merely made a back for his opponent, a challenge which ultimately resulted in Cunha having to be substituted.

Pereira was left hugely frustrated to see his centre-back forced out of the action having picked up an injury during the incident, but Brobbey escaped without a caution.

It was the kind of challenge that strikers get away with countless times during a 90 minutes, and referees need to start clamping down on it whenever possible.

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