Awoniyi Fires Another Brace as Forest Hold Chelsea
*Onuachu, Aribo relegated with Saints to Championships
Duro Ikhazuagbe
For the second straight week, Taiwo Awoniyi, continued his drive to ferry Nottingham Forest away from the murky waters of relegation as he scored another brace in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea yesterday. He scored two goals last Monday as Nottingham Forest defeated Southampton 4-3
Awoniyi, the first Forest player to score two goals in consecutive Premier League games since Bryan Roy in 1995, maintains there is still work to be done.
“We came here with spirit and togetherness and had a plan that worked. When they score two quick goals you feel bad, but we believed in ourselves and got the point,” said the 25-year-old.
“We now have two finals to go, the next one is Arsenal and from there we will see what happens.”
Forest, who had taken just six away points from a possible 51 this season before the Chelsea game, face the title-chasing Gunners at home next Saturday before travelling to Crystal Palace on the final day.
The valuable one point earned in the draw has ensured that Forest are comfortably seated at 16th spot on the Premier League table, three places away from the drop zone.
The Nigerian striker has now scored eight goals in his debut Premier League season. He opened scoring after 13 minutes and then salvaged a vital point on the road on 62 minutes at Stamford Bridge.
Unfortunately, while Awoniyi is leading the battle for Forest to retain their Premier League status, two other Super Eagles players, Paul Onuachu and Joe Aribo were officially relegated with Southampton to the Championships yesterday.
With miserable 24 Points from 36 games and sitting at the bottom of the 20-team table, Southampton officially lost their status with another 0-2 loss at Fulham the weekend.
Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi are in the relegation zone battling to escape the drop. They have their week 36 fixture against Liverpool who are struggling to make the Top Four on Monday at Anfield.
Back to Stamford Bridge, Raheem Sterling rediscovered his scoring touch as he netted both of Chelsea’s goals in the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Home fans had booed the Blues off at the break, trailing to a Game Awoniyi goal for Steve Cooper’s side and looking no nearer in the first half to finding a solution to the lack of firepower that has derailed their season.
Then, in the space of seven second-half minutes, Sterling transformed the match. First a deflected shot bounced up into the corner after he was set up by Trevoh Chalobah, then he let rip with a brilliant solo goal that evoked the England forward at his electric best.
Yet instead of pressing on, Chelsea folded. Non-existent marking left Awoniyi free to head home and extinguish the lead four minutes later.
At St. Mary’s Southampton were officially relegated to the Championship after 10 years in the Premier League following a 2-0 loss to Fulham.
Onuachu, who made his 11th league appearance without a goal, was in action before going off for Black Stars’ Kamaldeen Sulemana.
His Nigerian teammate Aribo was an unused substitute for the Saints.
In other results, Eberechi Eze scored two goals, Michael Olise had an assist in Crystal Palace’s 2-0 win against Bournemouth, Aston Villa beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1, Manchester United overcame Wolves 2-0 and Newcastle United held Leeds to a 2-2 draw away.
