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Johnny Edward.
Nottingham Forest match-winner, Taiwo Awoniyi, is still in cloud nine after his strike earned the Tricky Trees a shock 1-0 win over his former club Liverpool in a Premier League game at the City Ground on Saturday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The goal was his third in 11 EPL games since he arrived in the summer.
The Nigerian striker returned to his side’s starting line-up after making cameo appearances against Wolves and Brighton, and grabbed the winner from close range after his initial attempt came back off the upright.
Awoniyi joined Liverpool in 2015 but left in 2021 without making a single appearance and went on loan seven times as a Reds player before he was sold last season to Union Berlin, who then sold him to Forest in the summer for £17m.
For the big Nigerian striker, scoring against the Reds is one of the special moments of his career.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the game Awoniyi said, “For me, I’m happy but the most important thing is the three points.
“To score against Liverpool is a day I will never forget. I will always be grateful to Liverpool for scouting me from Nigeria and scoring against them is amazing.
“The game is over and now we concentrate on the next one.
“I think this team we stick together, we’re a family, the fans are always with us, we just have to keep on going.”
Three of Nottingham Forest’s next five league games are against Arsenal (away), Manchester United (away) and Chelsea (home) and Awoniyi warns that they must build on this victory.
“Now we have to build on it,” he added.
“This kind of game, we have to look back on it and build on it,” he told BT Sport post-match.
Forest boss Steve Cooper stated that Awoniyi’s physical presence proved too much for the Reds defence to handle.
“He works so hard,” said Cooper.
“We played him (Awoniyi) today (Saturday) because we thought that he could be a handful for whoever played centre-back. He really proved to be that and he deserved his goal. I am pleased for him. It puts him on three goals now.”
Despite being in and out of the Forest squad, Awoniyi’s three goals in his first three Premier League starts at the City Ground has done enough for an extended run now.
On Awoniyi scoring against his former club, Jurgen Klopp said, “He had a sensational development. He has arrived where he belongs and I am happy for him, but not today so much.”
Forest’s 1-0 win against Liverpool took them off bottom of the Premier League.
Balogun also on target
Also, Leon Balogun scored his first goal of the season for QPR, who survived a second-half onslaught to beat Wigan Athletic 2-1 at Loftus Road and stay top of the Championship.
Balogun powered home the winner off a header into the top corner from a Stefan Johansen corner in the 24th minute after the visitors had cancelled out Sam Field’s 12th minute opener.