Awoniyi nets first half brace as Nottingham Forest edge Southampton in 7-goal thriller 

Super Eagles striker Taiwo Awoniyi scored a brace in Nottingham Forest's 4-3 win against Southampton at the City Ground to leap out of the relegation zone and into 16th place with 33 points. 

Southampton remain bottom of the log with 24 points from 35 league matches. 

Both strikes took the Nigerian's tally to six in the 2022/2023 campaign and seven in all competitions. 

Awoniyi received a great cut back on the line from Brennan Johnson and he finished superbly in the 18th minute

The former Nigeria youth international then doubled Forest's lead three minutes later when he pounced on a loose ball to rifle the ball into the top of the net. 

Southampton reduced the arrears in the 25th minute through Carlos Jonas Alcaraz who was unmarked and buried the ball to the bottom right corner. 

Awoniyi had a great chance two minutes after that to get a hat-trick but he got too much of it and that opportunity went wide of the left post. 

Morgan Gibbs-White made it 3-1 just 60 seconds before the halftime break but the Saints were able to get another goal early in the second half to make the game a real contest. 

Morgan Gibbs-White played in Danilo who showed great determination to get to the ball before a couple of defenders and from inside the box he shot into the top of the net. 

Southampton boss Ruben Sellés made three changes with Paul Onuachu and Sam Edozie part of the trio that came off the bench in the 76th minute. 

Former Atletico Madrid defender Felipe made it 4-2 in the 90th minute but a penalty byJames Ward-Prowse in added time to make it a nervous end. 

 Izuchukwu Michael

Photo Credit : premierleague.com 

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