Taiwo Awoniyi fires blank as Nottingham Forest suffer defeat against Newcastle United

Nigeria forward, Taiwo Awoniyi, failed to score on his Premier League debut for Nottingham Forest on Saturday as his team were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

It was not a return to the top-flight the Reds had wished for after 23 years away.

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Steve Cooper handed first Forest starts to Dean Henderson, Moussa Niakhaté, Neco Williams, Harry Toffolo, Lewis O’Brien and Jesse Lingard as Joe Worrall captained the side.

He, however, named Awoniyi on the bench.

Backed by a vocal away end of over 2,900, Forest were called into defensive action early as Joe Willock’s dangerous strike was blocked behind by Scott McKenna as The Magpies started quickly on home turf.

The hosts forced a number of early corners within the opening 10 minutes, Kieran Trippier crossing the ball onto the head of Dan Burn whose header dropped wide of Henderson’s far-post.

On 12 minutes, Lingard showed great awareness midway inside the Newcastle half to turn and find Sam Surridge with a dangerous pass but the forward couldn’t quite get a strike away on the edge of the area before being challenged by Burn.

The lively Allan Saint-Maximin picked the ball up on the left-hand side before being fouled by Worrall 25 yards from goal, a foul which cost Worrall the game’s first booking before Trippier’s resulting free-kick was blocked by the wall.

Henderson was called into action minutes later as Brazilian midfielder Joelinton powered forward for the hosts before forcing Forest’s keeper into a low save to parry the ball to safety.

The hosts made the breakthrough following a spell of pressure towards the hour mark, firstly Saint-Maximin was denied by a fantastic Scott McKenna block, only for Schär to open the scoring on 58 minutes with a long-range strike.

On 63 minutes, club-record signing, Awoniyi, was introduced for his competitive Forest debut, replacing Surridge moments after the forward looked to level with a header inside the penalty area.

With quarter of an hour remaining, Steve Cooper introduced latest signing Orel Mangala in the place of O’Brien as The Reds looked to find a leveller.

However, the pendulum swung back into The Magpies’ favour as Wilson added a second for the hosts, a low ball coming into the penalty area was turned towards goal by the forward who saw his deft touch beat Henderson and find the back of the net.

Wilson came close to adding a third for the hosts after Saint-Maximin and Longstaff combined to find the forward inside the area but he could only find the side netting.