Taiwo Awoniyi has admitted it was “emotional” to score the winner for Nottingham Forest against his former club Liverpool on Saturday afternoon.
Awoniyi netted the only goal of the game in the early kick-off as Forest moved off the bottom of the Premier League with a 1-0 win at the City Ground. Injury-depleted Liverpool were far from their best and were punished by Steve Cooper’s side.
The match-winning moment came in the 55th minute when Awoniyi reacted fastest to a loose ball after Ryan Yates struck the post from the second phase of a deep free-kick. The 25-year-old striker beat Alisson to give Forest the lead and, while Virgil van Dijk had several opportunities from set pieces, the hosts held on to win.
Awoniyi was signed by Forest from Union Berlin over the summer, but began his career in Europe at Liverpool. He joined the Reds in 2015 but never made a senior appearance for the club, spending every season out on loan at various clubs in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
Nevertheless, the identity of the opposition made the result and his goal all the more sweet for Awoniyi. “I think this team we stick together, we’re a family, the fans are always with us, we just have to keep on going,” he told BT Sport post-match.
“I was looking forward to playing Liverpool because they signed me when I was 18 and it was an emotional game for me. For me, I think it’s a good game for my team, we had a plan to stay compact and in the end we won, I’m very happy about it.”
Jurgen Klopp bemoaned Liverpool’s poor finishing from set pieces, but it could easily have been 2-0 to Forest at the final whistle, after Brennan Johnson struck the post in injury-time when Alisson was stranded up the pitch. Awoniyi was excellent up front for Cooper’s side, giving Joe Gomez and Van Dijk a difficult time throughout the match.
Awoniyi was signed by Liverpool in August 2015 for a fee of around £400,000. He was immediately loaned out to Frankfurt and then went on to feature on loan for NEC, Mouscron, Gent and Mainz before finding a home at Union Berlin.
“It was frustrating because every summer I’d be in pre-season training at Liverpool waiting to see how it goes with the permit," he said in an interview with The Telegraph as he addressed his Liverpool exit in August. "I hadn’t played for my national team or in any of Europe’s top five leagues.
"In the end I’d have to go out on loan, but in life I have been in more difficult situations than that. I’ve always believed I would play in the Premier League. It has always been my biggest target as a football player.
"Even when I was in Liverpool’s second team I learned so much. The way they set up training, and all the fantastic players around me, made it a learning process. Before I left, he (Klopp) told me that Union Berlin were pushing everything to sign me permanently (after a successful loan spell in 2020-21).
"He said, ‘That is the key for a player, the moment a team wants to sign you so much that means you belong there.' That was the last discussion we had and he was right."
He contributed 25 goals and nine assists in 65 appearances for German club Union Berlin, who made his loan move permanent by paying Liverpool £6.5million last summer. Forest were suitably impressed and shelled out a reported £17m to bring him to Nottingham as part of a gigantic summer recruitment campaign.
Awoniyi’s goal against Liverpool was his third of the season and was a huge one for Forest, giving them just a second win of the season and moving them from 20th place to 19th, past Leicester, who play fellow strugglers Wolves on Sunday.
