Super Eagles striker Taiwo Awoniyi scored a brace for Nottingham Forest as they claimed a 3-1 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday, Soccernet.ng reports.
Nottingham Forest has a crucial Europa League semifinal second leg coming up against Aston Villa on Thursday, so their Premier League tie against Chelsea was moved to 3 PM on Monday.
Awoniyi got a rare start as coach Vitor Pereira rotated his squad to keep his players fresh for Thursday. However, Ola Aina was ruled out due to an injury.
The Tricky Trees could not have asked for a better start to the game, as they scored twice in the opening 15 minutes courtesy of strikes from Awoniyi and Igor Jesus.
Awoniyi first opened the account with a clinical header off a cross from Dilane Bakwa. Then, he forced a penalty, which Jesus converted.
The Blues did not show much bite in the final third; however, they won a fortuitous penalty just before the break. Jesse Derry was clattered into and left unconscious in the penalty box. Cole Palmer took charge of the situation, but his strike was saved by Matz Sels.
In the second half, the Blues dominated possession in an attempt to get on the scoresheet, but they did not look convincing enough in the box.
Forest would later catch them out again after a brilliant counter in the 52nd minute. This time, it was Awoniyi who doubled his tally, getting on the end of an accurate square ball from Morgan Gibbs-White to tap the ball in from close range and make it 3-0.
More to follow…