Forest boss Sean Dyche ‘buzzing’ for Taiwo Awoniyi after goal at Brentford
It was Awoniyi’s first goal since he underwent emergency abdominal surgery after colliding with a post against Leicester in May.
Sean Dyche admitted Nottingham Forest were “buzzing” for Taiwo Awoniyi after the striker’s goal wrapped up a priceless 2-0 win at Brentford.
Forest were hanging on to Igor Jesus’ first-half opener when Awoniyi, on as a substitute, chased Morgan Gibbs-White’s long ball down the line.
The 28-year-old outmuscled Sepp Van Den Berg, raced towards goal, stepped inside Michael Kayode’s last-ditch sliding tackle and slipped the ball beyond Caoimhin Kelleher.
It was a fabulous goal but also an emotional one for Awoniyi, his first since requiring emergency abdominal surgery after colliding with a post against Leicester in May.
“Absolutely buzzing,” Dyche said. “He works hard for us and he’s trained well. Funnily enough, I chatted with him last week and reminded him to be free, and he looked free when he came on.
“It was a very good finish. He’s been knocking on the door, he’s been working hard for the team and he gets a reward with a really good bit of play and a really fine finish.
“I’ve not gone too deeply with him. That’s by the by, you don’t keep reflecting back, or I certainly don’t. I wasn’t here when that went on.
“I know it was very serious. But just generally, get on with it, just come and enjoy yourself.
“He had a bit of a soft spell a couple of weeks ago and then he’s come out of it the last week.
“He’s looked sharper and come back to life, let’s say. I had absolutely no doubt in putting him on. I thought, ‘Yeah, absolutely, go and play’.”
Jesus had earlier upstaged his fellow Brazilian striker Igor Thiago with just his second Premier League goal this term.
Bees forward Thiago has been one of the revelations of the season, his 16 Premier League goals putting him behind only Erling Haaland in the scoring charts.
Jesus, by contrast, came into the match having scored just once from 40 shots, giving him the worst conversion rate in the division.
But after 12 minutes he doubled his tally when he controlled Ola Aina’s cross with his chest, held off Bees defender Nathan Collins and lashed a superb volley past Kelleher.
The victory eased Forest’s relegation fears, restoring their five-point cushion over 18th-placed West Ham.
Brentford could have climbed into the top five with a win, but instead slipped to only their second home defeat of the campaign.
“Really frustrating, is the honest answer,” was the assessment of boss Keith Andrews.
“We can’t be content with a good performance, we have to be ruthless. They had two shots on target and scored.
“We can’t just pat ourselves on the back and say, ‘Haven’t we done well the last few weeks?’. We need to evolve as a team and solve those problems.”
