You don’t get to write such stories always as they can’t be made up – they tell of unknown fortunes and unseen fate than predictable adventures
Taiwo Awoniyi has scored the winner against Liverpool. It’s as simple as that. But for many reasons, it’s not as simple as that.
Bubbling, happy and willing to make a strong mark in football, the then teenage Awoniyi left Nigeria for Liverpool in 2015. It would take him 6 years before enjoying his first understanding of an ideal home in football. Seven loan moves to three countries finally paid off when he moved to Union Berlin.
A strong 20-goal season saw Premier League bags make their way and he signed for Nottingham Forest. That move is open to many debates as the impact is not what you’d suggest it should be. The Reds are struggling to tick it in the Premier League despite buying more than an entire football team of players.
What is interesting are in the exciting stories generated somewhere within the club, by one of their two Nigerian imports.
Awoniyi finally left Liverpool permanently in 2021 after a strong period on loan at Union. The Iron Ones cashed out on their prized asset one year later. His time at Nottingham Forest hasn’t exactly gone as he’d hope but scoring against Liverpool is always going to be memorable.
For six years, he struggled to play a single game at the club, due to work permit problems. When he’d be ready, Liverpool were far ahead and gone in levels. Tough periods and injuries have seen the Merseyside Reds in dire straits and a loss to the division’s best strugglers underlines their problems.
Awoniyi, however scoring, gives the club an inkling of what could have been if fate had other means. It’s Awoniyi’s third Premier League goal, but by far his most important for many reasons.
The club is struggling to get going and their many signings haven’t resulted to form and fortune.
Awoniyi would also desire more opportunities and can shout for it. He is the first Nottingham Forest player to score in each of his three starts at the club’s hallowed stadium, the City Ground.
More opportunities to convince may take more consistency but with every strong mark laid, he reminds many of the essence of his story.
You don’t always write such stories. They are not made up.
