Izuchukwu Okosi
- Nigeria striker Taiwo Awoniyi scored his first goal of the season for Nottingham Forest as opponents Arsenal began their quest to win the Premier League title in 20 years beating his team 2-1 at the Emirates stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Gunners came into the game buoyed by their English Community Shield victory over Manchester City last season and dominated the first half with two well taken goals by Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka.
Saturday’s game between both sides were delayed by 30 minutes due to issue with the turnstiles but Mikel Arteta’s side quickly hit their strides.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelForest had one clear cut chance to score in the first half through Brenan Johnson who was clear on goal but scuffed his shot wide.
A moment of magic from Gabriel Martinelli freed Nketiah inside the Forest box and his low shot found a way past Turner courtesy of a deflection off Joe Worrall as Arsenal hit the front just after the midway point of the first half.
Saka then took centre-stage, collecting a pass from William Saliba and curling home a fine effort to double the lead before half-time.
The dampener for the home side was the knee injury sustained by new signing Jurrien Timber who went down in the first half.
The former Ajax defender emerged from the dressing room with his teammates but had a relapse of the injury troubling him and had to be substituted.
Super Eagles striker, Awoniyi who is marking his 25th minute, came off the substitute bench and reduced the arreas when he wriggled his way past the central defenders and poked the ball past Aaron Ramsdale.
The second half looked like being played out largely with Arsenal controlling possession, Declan Rice forcing a low stop out of Turner with a deflected drive before the £105million man had another shot turned behind.
Arsenal ultimately held on for the win, Gabriel Magalhaes replacing Martinelli to sure up the defence as Forest threw on the likes of Chris Wood in a late attempt to salvage a point.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
