MORGAN Gibbs-White needed just seven minutes to throw Wolves fans' scorn back in their faces.
The Nottingham Forest captain led the way as Nuno Espirito Santo's side recorded a sixth Premier League victory to move into second place in the table alongside Arsenal.
Chris Wood grabbed his 12th goal of the season to keep Wolves at bay before half-time as Nuno Espirito Santo's bandwagon rolled on.
Gibbs-White came through the ranks at Wolves before making the move to Forest two-and-a-half years ago, worth more than £25 million.
That didn't go down well with the Molineux faithful – and they have since made him aware of it.
Supporters booed Gibbs-White from the start, before launching into a distasteful chant about his girlfriend.
The Forest striker didn't need a second invitation to deliver the perfect response.
He started running from his own half and went unchallenged before feeding Anthony Elanga on the right.
Elanga found Gibbs-White again and he converted for a purpose of pure simplicity.
Gibbs-White cherished the moment as he brought out the standard celebration for Wolves fans: a finger in each ear.
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There may be fond memories of Nuno's successful four years at Molineux, but his welcome is certainly wearing thin among supporters.
This was his third return since leaving the club in 2021 – and a third win.
He added to the two league and cup wins he recorded here with Tottenham to sink his former team.
Nuno says no one has asked him yet whether Forest are title contenders.
The likes of Chelsea and Arsenal are immediately seen as potential challengers for Liverpool if they move into second place.
But Forest remains under the radar – and that's how Nuno likes it.
This was the first time in 58 years that Forest had achieved six top-flight victories.
And on this form there is a return to Europe for them.
But the Portuguese coach does not like that kind of talk about a club that has avoided relegation for the past two seasons.
Wolves were without the suspended Matheus Cunha – and boss Vitor Pereira made five changes after going unbeaten in his first three games.
But while this was his first defeat since taking over from Gary O'Neil, he will see positives in both attack and defence.
There will be one new face at the club this week, with Wolves agreeing a £16.6million fee with Reims for Ivory Coast centre-back Emmanuel Agbadou, who is expected to fly in to complete the move to Molineux.
Wolves responded well to Gibbs-White's goal and came close twice within a minute.
Murillo cleared the line from close range after Jorgen Strand Larsen's effort, before Forest keeper Matz Sels did an excellent job of keeping out Rodrigo Gomes' fierce drive.
Larsen was denied again after 29 minutes when Sels blocked his header from a Gomes cross.
At this stage, in-form Belgian goalkeeper Sels was the man stopping Wolves from fighting their way back into the game.
But Pereira's men were lucky when Rayan Ait-Nouri appeared to have dealt with Ola Aina's cross and given away a penalty.
The decision went to the VAR and was deemed not worth pointing to the spot.
But Forest extended their lead a minute before half-time when Wood scored his second goal in successive games – and once again Wolves were exposed at the back.
Sels' long clearance found Callum Hudson-Odoi on the left and he outpaced Wolves defender Matt Doherty before finding Wood who rolled the ball home.
It continued the Kiwi's record of scoring for three different clubs – Burnley, Newcastle and Forest – against Wolves.
Larsen still looked threatening and he produced another fine save from Sels.
But Forest's second-half performance was all about dashing Wolves' hopes of a comeback.
Nuno's men remained in command after the break – even if it was unspectacular.
Wolves will rue the chances they had to level the scores – and perhaps go even further.
But they found Sels in top form – and Nuno even waved to the traveling Forest fans before Awoniyi's late goal.
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