IPSWICH, England (Reuters) -Nottingham Forest continued their push for an unlikely top-four finish with a comfortable 4-2 win at relegation-threatened Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Saturday.
Forest remained in third place on 54 points, five ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea, who have a game in hand and face second-placed Arsenal on Sunday. Ipswich are in 18th place and nine points adrift of the safety zone.
Defender Nikola Milenkovic opened the scoring in the 35th minute with a fierce rising volley from close range.
Two minutes later, Anthony Elanga netted a brilliant curling effort before immediately doubling his tally as he latched onto a long ball forward from Milenkovic and squeezed his shot under Ipswich goalkeeper Alex Palmer.
All three of Forest's first-half goals came in a rampant seven-minute spell, which sent Nuno Espirito Santo's Forest into the interval with a comfortable 3-0 lead.
"We got that moment right. We got Ipswich unbalanced and took advantage of it," Forest coach Espirito Santo told the BBC.
"Ipswich were always going to react. It was important for us to get the fourth goal after they scored to really put the game to bed. They have character and are intense. It was tough.
"He (Elanga) was huge for us today. Not only the goals he got but also his defensive tasks. He was always in the game."
Ipswich pulled one back in the 82nd minute as Jens Cajuste created space with a delightful pirouette on the edge of the box before firing home to briefly give home fans hope, but that hope was quickly crushed.
Substitute Jota Silva capped off a swift counter-attack to add Forest's fourth before George Hirst claimed a consolation goal for Ipswich in added time.
Ipswich's defeat meant they remained the only side across England's top four tiers yet to register a victory in 2025.
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna believes his team could still avoid the drop, pointing to their home game against 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers next month.
"It is possible with six points to play for when we come back from the international break," he added.
"We are running out of games. We need to take points soon, we know that but we are certainly not going to give up hope or stop fighting until the last game is done."
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
