Super Eagles striker Taiwo Awoniyi was on the winning side as his team, Nottingham Forest, beat Chelsea 1-0 in a Premier League encounter at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Chelsea had got off to a good start, troubling the Nottingham Forest defence in the opening minutes. Raheem Sterling was the live wire and could have put the Blues ahead, but a timely challenge by another Super Eagles player in action, Ola Aina, saved Steve Cooper’s men.
Awoniyi went close to continuing his scoring form for Forest in the 26th minute, but his shot was way over the bar. He missed another chance five minutes later, sending his half-volley wide when he should have scored.
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Nottingham Forest had to throw on Anthony Elanga in the 45th after Brazilian midfielder Danilo went down injured. The former Manchester United man proved to be the match-winner after Moises Caicedo and Conor Gallagher had a mix-up, gifting Awoniyi with a chance to find Elanga. The Swede slotted past Robert Sanchez in the 48th minute, sending the Nottingham fans into delirium.
After the goal, Chelsea turned up the burner in search of an equaliser. Axel Disasi could have found the equaliser but sent his header wide in the 54th minute. Caicedo thought he had won the Blues a penalty, but the Video Assistant Referee adjudged the ball had hit Joe Worrall’s hand while it was at his side.
Wily Boly deterred Nicolas Jackson after Enzo Fernandez found him in the Forest box with a through ball. The Senegalese striker then produced a miss of the season contender after Sterling found him with a cross and his lunge sent the ball wide over the bar at close range.
Thiago Silva also saw his shot saved by Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner, who was largely less busy as Chelsea had just two attempts on target despite having 20.
Elanga could have provided Nottingham Forest’s second goal, but he decided to go alone when he had Cheikhou Kouyate and Chris Wood waiting unmarked in the box.
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The victory is Nottingham Forest’s first at Stamford Bridge since January 1997 and their second away win since their promotion to the Premier League.
Other results
Manchester City vs Fulham
Manchester City were 5-1 winners over visitors Fulham at Etihad Stadium. The Pep Guardiola-led side were too hot for Fulham to handle.
Julian Alvarez scored in the 31st minute from Erling Haaland’s assist to put City ahead. Tim Ream equalised two minutes later to give Marco Silva and his men hope of getting a point from the defending champions.
However, City grabbed four more goals to put the contest to bed. Haaland scored a hat-trick, and Nathan Ake also got a goal.
Burnley vs Tottenham Hotspur
Son Heung-min scored a hat-trick as Tottenham came from a goal down to thrash Burnley at Turf Moor and continue their unbeaten start to the Premier League season.
Lyle Foster gave Burnley the lead in the fourth minute, but Son’s delicate finish restored parity 12 minutes later, and four more goals followed.
Cristian Romero and James Maddison scored in the 54th and 66th minutes before Josh Brownhill scored the Clarets’ second in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Brentford vs AFC Bournemouth
Brentford had to dig deep to grab a point in the 2-2 draw.
Bryan Mbeumo scored the leveller in the third minute of stoppage time. Mathias Jensen had put the side ahead in the seventh minute, but Bournemouth came back in the 30th minute through Dominic Solanke before David Brooks got the second in the 77th minute.
They were racing to a win before Mbeumo spared Brentford’s blushes.
Sheffield United vs Everton
It ended in a 2-2 draw as Sheffield United welcomed Everton to Bramall Lane, with both sides picking their first points of the season.
Sheffield United had started the brighter but it was the visitors who took the lead through Abdoulaye Doucoure, poking in a rebound for Everton’s first league goal of the campaign.
United responded well, with the dangerous Gustavo Hamer forcing Jordan Pickford into a sharp save and they got their reward as Cameron Archer side-footed in to finish off a slick team move.
It got even better for Paul Heckingbottom on the stroke of half-time as Archer’s arrowed effort hit the post before ricocheting off Pickford and into the net.
But Everton hit back after the break as on-loan Arnaut Danjuma converted from close range via Nathan Patterson’s cross to the back post to salvage a point for Sean Dyche’s men.
