Nigeria’s Taiwo Awoniyi scored his first Premier League goal of the season as UEFA Champions League hopefuls Nottingham Forest started 2025 in the same vein as their outstanding end to last year with a 3-0 thumping of troubled Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.
On Sunday, Amad Diallo extended his fine start to life under Ruben Amorim at Manchester United by equalising for the Red Devils — cancelling out Mohamed Salah’s penalty — as they drew 2-2 vs. fierce rivals Liverpool at Anfield.
This season is surpassing all expectations for Nuno Espirito Santo and Forest, who moved level with second-places Arsenal, on 40 points, with their 12th victory of the campaign.
Only league leaders Liverpool have recorded more victories than Forest, who are defying the doubters after their 17th-placed finish last term and have now won six consecutive top-flight matches for the first time since 1966-67.
Awoniyi had been — at best — a peripheral figure while his Forest teammates earned plaudits during the first half of the 24-25 season.
Now 27, Awoniyi featured in 14 of Forest’s 19 league games during the latter part of 2024, but he had started only twice and failed to score in his numerous cameos and stoppage-time showings.
Awoniyi made the most of his latest cameo, however; playing for the final two minutes of the game and scoring Forest’s third goal to remind Nuno that he remains a capable option at this level.
The visitors were already two goals up through Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood when, with Wolves toiling, their confidence sapping away, Forest caught them on the break again; James Ward-Prowse cut the ball back for Awoniyi to finish beyond José Sá.
Awoniyi had not scored since the 2-0 victory over West Ham United on Feb. 17, 2024; indeed the forward had taken just six shots this season before stepping onto the field for his late intervention against Wolves.
The Nigerian appeared emotional after scoring, dropping to his knees in celebration, covering his face with his shinpads that bore a Bible verse from the Book of James, and perhaps hinting at some of the frustration he may have experienced after falling behind the irrepressible Wood in the pecking order this term.
It’s been easy to forget that Awoniyi was once Forest’s record transfer signing, when he joined from 1. FC Union Berlin after a 15-goal Bundesliga season, and was influential in the 2022-23 campaign with 10 goals as then manager Steve Cooper’s side beat the drop.
Forest, who are just six points behind Liverpool having played a game more, face Luton Town in the FA Cup this weekend so Awoniyi could have an opportunity to build on his return to goal-scoring form after a 324-day drought.
Awoniyi’s Nigeria teammate Ola Aina also featured for Forest, and he was denied a penalty when his cross struck Wolves’ Algerian Rayan Aït-Nouri on the arm, only for the VAR to adjudge that the defender’s arm had been in a natural position.
ESPN
