Taiwo Awoniyi celebrates his goal
Nottingham Forest produced a classic counter attacking performance to earn a 3-0 win away to Wolverhampton Wanderers – the Tricky Trees’ sixth successive Premier League (PL) victory, with Nigeria’s Taiwo Awoniyi netting the third goal deep in stoppage time.
Vítor Pereira was hoping his Wolves side could extend his unbeaten start to his reign as manager since taking over from Gary O’Neil, but high-flying Forest had other ideas as they raced into a seven-minute lead. As they have done so many times, Forest broke on the counter through former Wolves man Morgan Gibbs-White, and though boos rang around Molineux, he fed Anthony Elanga, who duly returned the ball for the 24-year-old to fire home and silence the home crowd.
The Old Gold responded well to falling behind and had multiple opportunities to draw level, but a lack of quality in front of goal continually let them down. First, Hwang Hee-chan drove into the box and his effort should have been turned in by Jørgen Strand Larsen, but the Norwegian failed to convert. Then, Rodrigo Gomes unleashed a stinging volley which was palmed away by Matz Sels, before the Belgian denied Strand Larsen’s header from point-blank range. Wolves were made to rue those missed chances, as Nuno Espírito Santo’s men doubled their lead moments before the break. On yet another counter attack, Callum Hudson-Odoi broke into the hosts’ box before pulling the ball back for Chris Wood to sweep home his 12th PL goal of the season.
Forest had last failed to win a game when 2-0 up at HT in September 2022, and Wolves last came back to win from the same deficit in January 2020, so the omens were promising for the visitors. Wolves didn’t go down with a whimper though, as the contest opened up following the restart, but Sels and Nikola Milenković stood firm at the back for the Reds who boast the division’s joint-best defensive record. Just past the hour mark, Forest built on that foundation, and should have wrapped up victory when Elliott Anderson flashed a shot inches wide of the target.
Forest’s superb game management allowed them to see out the rest of the contest with relative ease, even adding a third deep into stoppage time as substitutes James Ward-Prowse and Taiwo Awoniyi combined to allow the Nigerian to turn home into an empty net. The visitors’ 12th PL win of the season takes them to the 40-point mark and level with second-placed Arsenal, who they trail on goal difference. Nuno’s former employers, Wolves, on the other hand, remain outside the relegation zone on goal difference alone, though a sobering run of fixtures ahead outlines the size of the task ahead for new boss Pereira.
-Flashscore report
Flashscore Man of the Match: Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest)
