Four pages of Nottingham Forest’s matchday program were devoted to showing off the 12 new signings.
And one of them, club record signing Taiwo Awoniyi, scored his first big-time goal on the sunny City Ground, putting an end to what he had been waiting to rewrite for 23 years of Forest history. I hit
Four
Four
Four
Four
Another new face in Dean Henderson should also be heralded after saving Declan Rice’s 64th-minute penalty.
Ironically, since publishing these program pages, Forest have acquired Crystal Palace’s Cheikhou Kouyate, Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis and, this afternoon, Atalanta’s Remo Freuler for £7.6m.
And we’ll have to set aside more ink for Neil Maupay in Brighton over the next few days.
A total of 16 players with no signs of stopping in one of the busiest and most chaotic transfer windows in Premier League history.
And if Kouyate, Dennis, and Maupay have a similar impact on the lives of 12 already loved ones in Top Flight, Steve Cooper’s henchmen can make this a campaign to cherish even more.
In the space left in the program, boss Cooper talked about doing more than make up for the numbers after bringing them back to Prem for the first time since 1999.
They certainly proved it against West Ham with a real thriller of fighting in the heat of August that dates back to the rough and ready days when Forrest was a regular at this level. .
Purchased from Union Berlin for £17m, Awonyi bullied and harassed the away back four before an accidental goal with seconds left in the first half.
Great Bingo: Spend £10 Today Get £20 Bonus And 30 Free Spins
And if Brennan Johnson’s chip hadn’t been ruled out for offside, it might have been right after the break.
The Hammers had their moment. Ben Rama said the strike was interrupted by VAR shortly before Awoniyi’s shot, before both he and Pablo his Fornals hit the bar.
But in stark contrast to Forest, the struggling side, led by David Moyes, are in desperate need of a refreshment, with no new signings in the first XI and two losses in two matches. .
16 incoming calls? Despite £30m striker Gianluca Schamakka and her £17.5m winger Maxwell Cornette coming off the bench in the second half to no avail, Moyes needs just a few more points. was.
Flashbacks to old faces dominated the build-up as we looked back at the first televised match of our Prem era when a Teddy Sheringham goal beat Forest over Liverpool on Sunday August 1992.
But it was the newcomers who dominated Forest’s starting line-up. Only three names remained from last season: Johnson, Joe Worrall, and Scott McKenna.
Two new signings, Awoniyi and Orel Mangala, also started after being on the bench for the opening day defeat at Newcastle.
The kick-off atmosphere was evocative, with Forrest’s diminutive Kintyre Mal bursting a few eardrums, but the away end’s disdain for Jesse Lingard, who missed his return to East London this summer, was still audible.
A plan to throw a fake note onto the pitch was put into action early on, but strangely carried out when Neco Williams went into a corner. Perhaps they knew they were at least getting airtime on Sky, even if Lingard was out of the shot.
Rice seemed to get the message and picked up the yellow early on for dragging Lingard down on the counter.
They missed a single shot at St James’ Park, but a few close encounters here by Awonyi made up for it.
West Ham found their feet with Ben Rama’s curling effort removed by Henderson and Thomas Suchek denied a rebound by Harry Tofolo.
And thanks to Rice’s neat pick-out, they were soon celebrating following a quick counter, started and finished by Ben Rama.
However, VAR correctly intervened, spotting Michael Antonio Barge passing over Mangala early in the phase, and referee Robert Jones backing it up on the monitor.
Forrest responded with a legitimate goal. Louis O’Brien jinked into the box, Lingard fumbled his attempt, and Ben Jonson’s block bounced off Awonyi’s knee.
As captivating and frenetic as the first half was, the second half was captivating and frenetic, with Fornals hitting the bar with a long-range shot and Henderson acrobatic stopping Soucek’s follow-up.
VAR was busy and got the blow when Johnson deflected Lukasz Fabianski offside.
However, after Ben Rama hit the bar again with a free-kick, Forest conceded an unnecessary spot-kick as McKenna’s outstretched arm blocked Soucek’s shot, despite Henderson’s presence.
The monitor was used again and skipper Rice stepped up to create a tame sidefooter.
A fuming Moyes acted by bringing Skamakka, then Cornette, into the late rally.
It barely came through, with Zouma coming closest as Williams brilliantly cleared his header as the hosts persisted. Cue more noise.
Forest is back and the Premier League is even richer.
Comments
Post a Comment