LONDON: Nottingham Forest and Everton scored potentially crucial victories over Southampton and Brighton respectively to give themselves fighting chances of avoiding relegation.

Dwight McNeil scored a second-half brace as Everton climbed into 16th and two points clear of the Premier League relegation zone to dampen Brighton’s European dreams with a thumping 5-1 victory at the Amex.

It was a shocking first half for the seventh-placed hosts, who fell behind after just 33 seconds through Abdoulaye Doucoure, who later bagged a first-half brace.

Albion’s woes were exacerbated when goalkeeper Jason Steele turned the ball into his own net and McNeil added another for Everton in the second half.

Alexis Mac Allister was able to claw one back for the home side, but the rout was firmly recorded when McNeil scored his second late in stoppage time.

Like their Merseyside rivals on Saturday, the away end largely spurned the call to commemorate the King’s coronation with the singing of the national anthem and attempted to drown it out with a rendition of Spirit of the Blues.

Those chants quickly turned to elated cheers when Dominic Calvert-Lewin collected the ball with his back to Brighton’s goal and – with a neat pivot – crossed to Doucoure at the far post, who obligingly tapped home.

Brighton worked a free-kick to Facundo Buonanotte on the right, but Jordan Pickford was alert to his nodded effort from a tight angle, picking it out of the air with little need for effort.

It was the visitors piling on the pressure at the 25-minute mark thanks to some fine work from Alex Iwobi, who collected the ball inside his own half and cooly controlled it in the final third, where Albion were eventually able to shut down the initial wave of attack.

Kaoru Mitoma tried to set up Danny Welbeck who could not make contact as he slid toward the Everton goal, while control once again began to feel like an elusive pursuit for the hosts, who found themselves at the mercy of Doucoure.

This time he latched onto McNeil’s cross from the left before volleying the ball past Steele to double Everton’s advantage on 29 minutes.

Brighton hoped that would be the end to their disastrous first half but McNeil had other ideas as he sent in a cross which Steele stooped forward to save, but instead further buried his side when the ball deflected in off the back of his leg.

Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi made four changes to start the second half including the introduction of Evan Ferguson, who was available for the first time after missing four matches with an ankle injury.

It was fellow substitute Solly March who first tested Pickford and lent the Seagulls a spark they had been sorely missing, getting stuck in and winning a corner.

Ferguson came close on the subsequent set-piece as he forced a good save from the Toffees shot-stopper with a nodded effort at the far post.

Albion finally started to resemble a superior-looking side and remained camped in Everton’s half as Ferguson came inches away from pulling one back with a left-footed effort tipped away by Pickford before Mac Allister hit the crossbar.

It was the visitors, however, who extended their advantage against the run of play after Iwobi broke down the left and flicked the ball to McNeil, who evaded Lewis Dunk’s late sliding challenge and patiently tucked in the Toffees’ fourth.

Three minutes later, Mitoma’s rebound took a fortunate bounce off Mac Allister and in, but McNeil was not done for the night as he netted Everton’s fifth in added time.

Forest win, too

Nottingham Forest took a huge step towards Premier League safety with a dramatic 4-3 win over Southampton, whose impending relegation to the Sky Bet Championship could be confirmed at the weekend.

Forest climbed out of the bottom three thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s brace, Morgan Gibbs-White’s penalty and Danilo’s brilliant team goal to give realistic hope that they can avoid the drop on their first season back in the top tier for 23 years.

They took full advantage of defeats for Leeds and Leicester to move up to 16th, three points above the drop zone with three games to play.

Southampton’s situation is far bleaker and, despite goals from Carlos Alcaraz, Lyanco and James Ward-Prowse to keep them in the game, their 10-year stay in the top flight will end if they fail to beat Fulham on Saturday, while results elsewhere could also send them down even if they do win.

It was a thrilling end-to-end encounter at the City Ground that completed a bumper Bank Holiday goals bonanza as the 21 goals scored on Monday are a Premier League record for a three-game matchday.

This clash was always going to have a massive say on who goes down and the Forest fans received the memo, delivering a spine-tingling atmosphere before kick-off.

And after an edgy start in the driving rain, where Southampton were the better team, two goals in three minutes from Awoniyi lifted the roof off the City Ground.

The first came in the 18th minute after a devastating attack at speed, where after a quick free-kick, Danilo’s long ball set Brennan Johnson free on the right and his first-time cross was perfect for Awoniyi to fire home from 10 yards out.

The Nigeria international soon doubled his tally, and in some style too, as he hit an instinctive volley on the turn after Danilo’s improvised pass in the area.

Southampton had folded and were in danger of being blown away but gave themselves a lifeline in the 25th minute as Gibbs-White’s loose ball allowed a quick break that saw Stuart Armstrong play in Alcaraz and the Argentinian converted from close range.

There were a few dicey moments as Saints pushed for a leveller, but Forest crucially restored their two-goal lead just before the break.

Johnson nipped in to take the ball away from Ainsley Maitland-Niles and was on the end of a kick, with referee Michael Oliver taking his time to deliberate before pointing to the spot.

Gibbs-White made no mistake from the penalty, sending his effort down the middle to give Forest a big half-time advantage.

Southampton knew they were in the last-chance saloon and came out firing, reducing the arrears in the 51st minute.

Lyanco climbed highest from Ward-Prowse’s corner to power a header that was too hot for Keylor Navas to handle.

That totally changed the complexion of the game and Forest were suddenly hanging on as Saints chased an unlikely equaliser.

Another Lyanco header from a corner caused chaos in the Forest six-yard box as Navas came under a barrage of dangerous set-pieces.

But the hosts eased their nerves in the 73rd minute with a brilliant team goal converted by Danilo.

Johnson surged down the right, centred for Gibbs-White, whose delightful deft flick teed the Brazilian up and he made no mistake for his third goal in three games.

Felipe had another goal chalked off in stoppage time and then Saints were given a lifeline as Sam Surridge fouled Romeo Lavia, with Ward-Prowse sending the late penalty straight down the middle.

But Forest held on to leave Southampton staring into the abyss of the second tier.

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