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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Kyle Newbould

Former Liverpool striker Taiwo Awoniyi makes 'emotional' admission after Nottingham Forest winner

Taiwo Awoniyi admitted he felt 'emotional' coming up against former side Liverpool - but managed to put aside any feelings to score Nottingham Forest's winner.

The Nigerian striker netted the only goal of the game at the City Ground to end Liverpool's three-game winning run and put a stop to recent momentum. Despite being far from their free-flowing best, the Reds created more than enough chances to take something back from Nottinghamshire, but rued missed golden opportunities from set-pieces to send Jurgen Klopp's side home with nothing.

To add insult to injury, it was a former Liverpool player who condemned them to defeat, with Awoniyi causing problems for Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk. The 25-year-old topped off an bright performance in the 55th-minute, stabbing home a rebound from his own shot for the eventual winner.

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And speaking shortly after the final whistle, Awoniyi admitted he felt 'emotional' to come up against his former side.

“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. “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.”

Awoniyi's arrival at Anfield came just months before Klopp, with the striker signed for just £400,000 before being immediately loaned out to Eintracht Frankfurt. Spells in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany followed before he secured a permanent move to Union Berlin in 2021 - all without making a single appearance for his parent club.

Forest picked him up as part of their extraordinary post-promotion recruitment drive this summer. And with a string of solid performances culminating in today's winner, the former Red can be more than happy with how things panned out.

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