Awoniyi gets praises from Forest boss after brace against Chelsea

Vitor Pereira, the coach of English Premier League club. Nottingham Forest has hailed Super Eagles striker Taiwo Awoniyi for his performance in his team’s 3-1 victory against rivals Chelsea.

Awoniyi who was making his second start this season and also marked his 100th appearance for Forest scored twice in the match against Chelsea, thus boosting his team’s chances of escaping relegation.

The striker broke the deadlock in the second minute of the first half when he headed home a cross delivered by Dilane Bakwa. He later won a penalty which was converted by his teammate, Igor Jesus.

The Nigerian international grabbed his second goal of the match when he tapped into an empty net after substitute, Morgan Gibbs-White sent in a low cross to make it 3-0 against Chelsea.

Reflecting on the performance of Awoniyi whose brave increased his goal tally for the season to 4 goals in 14 games, Pereira said that the Nigerian striker is a dangerous player.

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The coach quoted on vavel.com said:“[He brings] everything – Taiwo Awoniyi is a danger player. He is not on the list in the Europa League, but we know he will push the defensive line of the opponents because he runs, attacks the space, holds the ball and this is the kind of spirit and the smile and energy we need in this team.”

On his team’s impressive display against the Blues, Pereira added: “We are a team that wants to keep our future in our hands and to do that we need to win games and not to be worried with the results of the other teams.

“If we win, we keep the distance and today another game, they proved again the speed, the quality and organisation. I am very happy for them and the players and the supporters.

“One thing we are doing well is our pressure. We are organised. When we play these teams that put a lot of players in the middle, it is important to close the space inside. We have players that can score goals in different ways, not a clean sheet but a fantastic goal from Joao Pedro.

“But I’m very happy because we showed strong spirit again and showed this is a special group. It’s difficult to deal with four managers, different methodologies and different demands, tactical demands.