Super Eagles striker Taiwo Awoniyi was at the double to power Nottingham Forest past Chelsea 3-1 in the Premier League on Monday afternoon, www.aclsports.com reports.
Awoniyi, who was handed a rare start by Vítor Pereira to lead a much-changed Forest starting, opened the scoring early before going ahead to grab his second of the afternoon in the second half to help Forest secure a thumping win at Stamford Bridge in London.
The Super Eagles forward has enjoyed a torrid season hit by injuries and loss of form, but he made the most of the opportunity on Monday afternoon to leave the Blues in bad shape, as Forest continue their march towards Premier League safety.
Just two minutes in, Awoniyi met a brilliant cross from Dilane Bakwa and powered a close-range header into the top-left corner. Within the opening quarter-hour, Forest’s afternoon got even better as they were awarded a penalty, which Igor Jesus calmly converted to double their lead.
Chelsea woke up afterwards, but Cole Palmer missed from the spot on the stroke of halftime as the visitors remained in the lead going into the break.
Just seven minutes after the interval, Awoniyi latched onto a low cross from Morgan Gibbs-White to increase Forest’s lead. Despite a late fightback from the Blues that saw Joao Pedro grab a consolation goal, Forest and Awoniyi held on for another win to edge closer to safety.
Awoniyi has now scored four times and provided one assist in his 15 Premier League appearances for Nottingham Forest this season. The former Liverpool forward will be hoping to play a part in his side’s Europa League semi-final clash against Aston Villa on Thursday night.
