Awoniyi Bags Birthday Goal Against Arsenal In EPL MatchDay 1

Awoniyi Bags Birthday Goal Against Arsenal In EPL MatchDay 1

By Gbenga Gboyega

Super Eagles striker Taiwo Awoniyi found the back of the net in Nottingham Forest's opening game of the 2023-24 English Premier League season, coincidentally gifting himself with a goal on his birthday, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

The 26-year-old came off the bench in the 71st minute for Forest to replace his Brazilian teammate Danilo who started on the left flank of a front-three attacking setup and lasted only 11 minutes of game time before finding the net to ignite any form of comeback.

Anthony Elanga produced a clinical pass into the penalty area finding Awoniyi in position to slot the ball down the left bottom corner for a fine finish, however, Forest lost the battle at the end.

Although Taiwo opened his season's record, the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium sets an unwanted record for the club seeing that Nottingham Forest has now lost their last five opening-day fixture of the season since 2019-20.

A 2-0 loss to Newcastle in the 2022-23 EPL season at St. James' Park, a 2-1 loss to Coventry at the Coventry Building Society Arena in the 2021-22 Championship season, a 2-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers at the Loftus Road Stadium in the 2020-21 Championship season, and a home 1-2 loss to West Brom at the City Ground in 2019-2020.

Born on the 12th of August 1997 alongside a twin sister Kehinde, Taiwo who got married to his partner Taiwo Jesudun in a traditional wedding in Kabba on the 15th of June 2018, will hope to do better than his 10 league goals in 27 Premier League games for last season.