When he scored the game-winning goal that helped Nottingham Forest defeat Southampton 1-0 on Wednesday night, Nigerian striker Taiwo Awoniyi once again demonstrated his significance to the team.
Awoniyi’s fourth goal of the campaign not only gave Forest their first away victory of the year but also moved them out of the Premier League’s relegation zone.
Awoniyi’s first-half goal was the difference in Wednesday’s basement encounter between Forest and the Saints, who entered the game in 18th and 20th place, respectively.
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Awoniyi and Ryan Yates combined before Brennan Johnson struck the crossbar for Steve Cooper’s team, who had gone six away Premier League games without scoring.
After Awoniyi scored in the 27th minute, Forest had control of the game as Southampton failed to register an attempt on goal.
Notably, three of Awoniyi’s four goals this season have come in 1-0 victories for the returning Premier League teams.
Just below Leeds United in 15th place right now is Forest.
However, as Awoniyi is steadily pushing his club to safety, Joe Aribo’s Southampton’s plight is growing worse as they are currently stuck at the bottom of the log.
The setback to Forest was their sixth straight defeat under Nathan Jones’ new leadership, who took over for Ralph Hasenhuttl in November.
Even though they did not play on Wednesday, Alex Iwobi’s Everton has been moved into the danger zone as a result of the results.
At Elland Road, Leeds and West Ham engaged in a thrilling match.
Wilfred Gnonto’s goal in the 27th minute gave Leeds the lead, but after some VAR drama, the visitors were given a penalty after it was determined that Pascal Struijk had tripped up Jarrod Bowen.
Just before halftime, Lucas Paqueta scored from the resulting kick, and early in the second half, Gianluca Scamacca scored from a loose ball that Brenden Aaronson had left. This gave the Hammers a 2-1 lead.
To the joy of the boisterous supporters, Leeds regained possession of the ball in the 70th minute when Rodrigo connected on a pass from Jack Harrison.
In a hectic final 20 minutes, both teams had opportunities to stake a claim for the maximum three points, but neither team was successful.
At Villa Park, Daniel Podence gave Wolves the lead in the 12th minute following some nice passing between him and Joao Moutinho. However, with 12 minutes remaining, substitute Danny Ings scored to give Villa a point.
Late in the game, Unai Emery’s team had a great opportunity to win it, but Leon Bailey missed the goal after being placed through on goal.
Villa now has 22 points and is ranked 11th in the standings after earning the lone point.
In the previous game on Wednesday, Harry Kane scored twice as Tottenham Hotspur humiliated Crystal Palace 4-0.