Nottingham Forest of England striker, Taiwo Awoniyi received ‘mob attention’ from his clubmates on Sunday afternoon, as they all gathered around him after his goal against Brentford in the English Premier League, Sports247 reports.
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While his Nigerian compatriot, Ola Aina played all 90 minutes of the encounter for Forest at Brentford’s GTech Community Stadium, Awoniyi got off the visitors’ bench in the 68th minute and scored in the 79th.
It was the first goal of this season for Awoniyi, who went on to celebrate in dramatic style by removing his shin guards, each branded with a cross, and used both to cover his eyes, while his teammates gathered round him in sheer delight.
With apparent memories about the striker’s numerous battles with injuries since joining Forest, Awoniyi’s colleagues showed immense relief for his return to goals scoring form, as they flocked round him to celebrate his revival.
Awoniyi made hay after running clear down the right wing when he was set up by Sepp van den Berg, and the Nigerian hitman got the assurance goal that kept Forest five points clear of the EPL’s drop zone.
The goal helped Forest get a shock win away to Brentford, who had Michael Kayode on from the start but did not dress Frank Onyeka for the game, which had initially been expected to be a routine home win for Keith Andrews and his team.
A summary of the match report by Sun Sports noted, “Nottingham Forest inflicted only the second home defeat of the season on the high-flying Bees thanks to a 13th minute goal from striker Igor Jesus and Taiwo Awoniyi’s finish.
“Forest, with seven changes to the team that lost to Braga last week and now need a play-off in the Europa League, were grinding it out while under the cosh then pounced to wrap it up.
“A hard-fought result also marks a stark turnaround from last Thursday’s European disaster for boss Sean Dyche which suggests his players do have the bottle for the survival dogfight ahead.”
