The midfielder’s early opener silenced the jeers from the home fans, with Gibbs-White having left Molineux for Forest in 2022.
Chris Wood added a 12th goal of the season just before half-time before Taiwo Awoniyi tapped in a third after a counter-attack in stoppage time.
Yet the hosts had their chances with Joao Gomes and Jorgen Strand Larsen seeing efforts saved by Forest keeper Matz Sels, while Larsen was also thwarted by Murillo’s goalline clearance.
Forest’s 12th win, three more than during the whole of the last campaign, came from two of their biggest weapons and showed teams are still struggling to find ways to stop them.
Gibbs-White’s seventh-minute goal came after a rapid break while Wood tapped in from six yards after excellent wide play from Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Simple but incredibly effective, Tuchel would have been impressed by Forest’s ruthless efficiency and Gibbs-White, who made his England debut in September, will surely be in his thoughts for March’s World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side remain third in the Premier League, six points behind leaders Liverpool, who they host in their next league game on 14 January. They are behind second-placed Arsenal on goal difference after a sixth straight victory – the first time they have won six successive top-flight matches in the same season in 58 years.
Wolves were the latest vanquished foes as Vitor Pereira suffered his first defeat since replacing Gary O’Neil as manager last month.
But for Sels’ heroics the hosts could have been 2-1 ahead instead of 2-0 behind at the break, although they clearly need reinforcements.
They are close to signing Reims centre-back Emmanuel Agbadou for £16.6m but Pereira had 16-year-old defender Wes Okoduwa on the substitutes’ bench and an injection of quality is needed with Wolves only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.
It was a ninth clean sheet in 20 Premier League games this season for Forest – more than any other team – but they needed Sels at his best to maintain their run.
The goalkeeper denied Gomes and twice kept out Larsen as Forest’s goalkeeper demonstrated his quality, keeping a fourth consecutive shutout.
Gibbs-White making a scoring return to Molineux, Wood continuing his streak and Awoniyi’s first goal in 11 months will take a large portion of the headlines but Forest’s defence has been the foundation to their success this season.
At Molineux, Murillo replaced Morato in defence following the 2-0 win at Everton, and the transition was seamless with Forest’s surgical summer transfer business looking more impressive by the game.
Last season they used three different goalkeepers, conceding 67 goals, with Sels, who joined almost 12 months ago, eventually claiming the jersey.
This term they have conceded just 19 times, a testament to Sels’ influence and the importance of a regular goalkeeper
Pereira has made a fine start to life at Wolves with two wins and a draw in his first three games before Forest arrived at Molineux.
They exposed his team’s failings with worrying ease and underlined why the new manager needs reinforcements this month.
Pereira said on Friday that Wolves would be active in the transfer window but he does not want to change a lot, although his hands are likely to be tied financially anyway.
Should Agbadou arrive, that would end interest in Lens defender Kevin Danso, with the club finally replacing Max Kilman, having failed in the summer following the former skipper’s move to West Ham.
Their bench included four players with just a minute of senior action between them this season to highlight the lack of depth when just a few players are missing.
Andre did not feature having travelled to Brazil for the birth of his son, while Matheus Cunha was absent as he sat out the first of his two-game ban, but Premier League survival cannot be hung around one player’s shoulders
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