Nottingham Forest put up a solid performance with Taiwo Awoniyi on the pitch, but they fell apart once he left….
Super Eagles striker Taiwo Awoniyi got his first Premier League start of the season in Nottingham Forest’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea at the City Ground, Soccernet.ng reports.
Coach Ange Postecoglou named a surprising lineup when his Forest side welcomed Chelsea in the opening Premier League game of the weekend. Awoniyi was the biggest gainer, as he got his first minutes of the Premier League season.
Before the game, Postecoglou was under pressure due to his poor start to life with the Tricky Trees.
Taiwo Awoniyi starts his first game of the season for Nottingham Forest. Let’s go! pic.twitter.com/5BBANcBuAf
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The club had failed to win any of the seven games since he replaced Nuno Espirito Santo, and they needed to get something against a Chelsea side that were struggling to win games.
It was almost a dream start for Awoniyi, as he got an early sniff at goal. The Super Eagles star latched onto a poor pass from a Chelsea player and got through on goal, but he contrived to drag his effort wide.
Chelsea struggled to create anything solid in the final third in the opening 20 minutes of the game. But the Tricky Trees had two good looks which they failed to score from.
Asides from his early miss, Awoniyi had a really solid first half. He put the Chelsea defenders under a lot of pressure and his hold-up play was also good. But he failed to score, as the first half eventually ended goalless.
Despite his decent showing, Awoniyi was taken off at halftime and replaced by Igor Jesus. But unfortunately for Postecoglou and his Nottingham Forest side, they fell like a pack of cards in the second half.
Goals from Josh Archeampong, Pedro Neto, and Reece James ensured that the Blues left the City Ground with a handsome 3-0 win, even though Malo Gusto got sent off late in the game.
Awoniyi would be disappointed that he was not given more minutes, as even his replacement failed to score.
Will Taiwo Awoniyi Get More Games At Nottingham Forest?
[Photo credit: Imago]
Nottingham Forest have four first team strikers － Chris Wood, Igor Jesus, Arnaud Kalimuendo, and Taiwo Awoniyi. So there is a lot of competition in that department.
Unfortunately for him, injuries have often dealt him a bad hand, so competing with the other strikers will be difficult.
Nonetheless, with the managerial instability at the club, Taiwo Awoniyi can continue to fancy his chances.
