Nottingham Forest smashed Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge to edge closer to Premier League survival.
The Reds are now six points clear of West Ham United in 18th place, and with 42 points, Vitor Pereira looks to be getting close to mission accomplished.
😍GET IN THERE!!! Sum up our huge win over Chelsea in three words…
Taiwo Awoniyi was a two-goal hero for Forest, with the striker coming in for the team after sitting out the Europa League game due to not being registered for that competition.
Forest were indebted to Awoniyi for his brilliant forward play, and after the game, the Nigerian talisman had some praise for one of his team-mates.
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Taiwo Awoniyi hails Dilane Bakwa
Bakwa was a surprise name on the team sheet for Forest as the Reds chose to ring the changes, with a huge semi-final second leg to come later this week.
The Reds needed a good start against Chelsea and found themselves ahead after just 98 seconds of the contest.
Pereira chose to put Bakwa in, and he justified the faith from his manager by tormenting Marc Cucurella in the opening exchanges.
Awoniyi said in his press conference: “We came here with the game plan to attack them, and it was a great ball from Dilane Bakwa, too, he did very well.”
Forest can now trust Bakwa
This might prove to be a sliding doors moment for Bakwa when it comes to his Forest career.
The French youngster had the confidence knocked out of him under Sean Dyche, but in Pereira, he’s now got a manager who fancies him as a good player.
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Bakwa can take a lot of encouragement from this showing and if he’s called upon again between now and the end of the season, fans won’t be quite so anxious.
The young winger was always going to be a bit of a project player and now, it’s up to Bakwa to keep his place in the team and continue his solid performance levels that he showcased at Chelsea.
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