By Monsurah Olatunji
Nigeria international Taiwo Awoniyi marked his return to scoring form in style as Nottingham Forest secured a crucial 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night in their bid for a top-four finish in the Premier League.
The win saw Forest tie Arsenal on points, though they remain third due to goal difference. Awoniyi, who had gone goalless since the start of the season, made his mark late in the game, scoring his first goal for the club in the 90th minute.
Forest took a comfortable 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood.
Despite making 15 appearances this season, Awoniyi has spent much of his time as a substitute, but when called upon in the 88th minute, he wasted no time making an impact.
The 27-year-old found the back of the net with a well-placed finish from an assist by Morgan Gibbs-White, sealing the win in stoppage time.
After scoring, Awoniyi was visibly emotional, dropping to his knees in celebration. He covered his face with his shin pads, which bore the Bible verse James 1:17: “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”
Having scored six goals and provided three assists in 20 appearances last season, Awoniyi will now hope to surpass that tally if he can stay fit for the remainder of the campaign.
This victory was Forest’s sixth consecutive win, marking their longest winning streak since 1967.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
