Nottingham Forest ratings: nine out of 10 Awoniyi shines in huge 3-1 win at Chelsea | OneFootball

Taiwo Awoniyi struck twice as Nottingham Forest won 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, moving six points clear of the relegation zone and taking a big step towards safety.

As reported by Nottingham Post, Vitor Pereira rotated heavily before Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Aston Villa, with injuries and several regulars on the bench.

Forest led after 97 seconds, Awoniyi heading in a delightful Dilane Bakwa cross. After Enzo Fernandez hit the post, Malo Gusto pulled Awoniyi, VAR sent Anthony Taylor to his screen and Igor Jesus converted the penalty down the middle.

Chelsea were given a spot-kick on the stroke of half-time after a clash of heads between Zach Abbott and Jesse Derry. Abbott went off in a concussion substitution and Derry was stretchered away, then Matz Sels saved Cole Palmer’s effort to keep it 2-0.

Awoniyi tapped in Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross on 52 minutes, the goal stood after a VAR check for offside. With a little over 15 minutes left, Joao Pedro had a finish ruled out for offside, then scored acrobatically at the death.

Player ratings saw Awoniyi receive nine out of 10. Luca Netz, Nicolas Dominguez, Dilane Bakwa, Igor Jesus, James McAtee, Neco Williams, Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson were all given eight and a half, while Matz Sels, Jair Cunha, Morato, Ryan Yates and Nikola Milenkovic took eight. Chris Wood and Zach Abbott were seven and a half, Omari Hutchinson seven.

Source: Nottingham Post