Nottingham Forest forward, Taiwo Awoniyi, endured a night of mixed emotions as he found the net but was later stretchered off in stoppage time during their dramatic FA Cup fourth-round clash against Exeter City.
The Premier League side eventually secured passage to the next round via penalties, but Awoniyi’s injury overshadowed the celebrations on Tuesday night.
The Nigerian international, who had given Forest a first-half lead in the 37th minute, suffered a sickening collision with Exeter goalkeeper Joe Whitworth as he contested a high ball in stoppage time.
Whitworth’s attempted punch to clear the danger inadvertently struck Awoniyi square in the face, leaving the forward bloodied and in need of immediate medical attention.
Medics from both teams rushed onto the pitch, spending ten minutes treating the visibly dazed striker before he was stretchered off to applause from the St James’ Park crowd.
Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo later confirmed that Awoniyi had likely broken his nose but was in good spirits.
“I think he broke his nose, but he’s walking around smiling. He did an amazing job, he did really well today,” a post-match report on the club’s website noted.
In a reassuring update, BBC Sport reported that Awoniyi was seen walking unaided from the medical center back to Forest’s dressing room.
Despite the injury setback, Forest managed to scrape past League One outfit Exeter, who pushed them to the limit in a thrilling contest.
Exeter stunned their top-flight opponents with an early fifth-minute lead courtesy of Josh Magennis, but Forest responded swiftly as Ramon Sosa equalised in the 10th minute.
Awoniyi then put Forest ahead before half-time, only for Magennis to strike again in the 50th minute, levelling the game and sending the home fans into raptures.
Exeter’s hopes suffered a major blow in the 87th minute when Ed Turns was shown a straight red card for a high challenge on Morgan Gibbs-White.
However, despite being a man down, the lower-league side held firm, resisting relentless Forest attacks that saw the visitors register 31 shots in total. Jota Silva came closest to winning it for Forest in extra time but rattled the crossbar, forcing the tie to be decided by penalties.
Nottingham ride on penalties
Forest’s quality ultimately shone from the spot as they converted all four of their penalties, with Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson, and Neco Williams all on target.
Exeter, meanwhile, faltered, with substitute goalkeeper Matz Sels saving Reece Cole’s attempt before Angus MacDonald struck the crossbar, sealing a 4-2 shootout victory for the Premier League side.
Nuno made wholesale changes to his squad, resting ten of the eleven players who had featured in their stunning 7-0 win over Brighton in the Premier League.
Only Brazilian midfielder Danilo retained his place, as Forest took the opportunity to rotate after their warm-weather training camp in Dubai.
Speaking after the grueling match, Nuno acknowledged Exeter’s resilience.
He said, “It was a hard game. We started in a bad way but the response was good. We had another setback after half-time and it became so hard.
“Credit to Exeter. I am happy in the end that we are going through.”
Forest’s reward for their hard-fought victory is a fifth-round clash against fellow Premier League side Ipswich Town.
With Awoniyi’s condition still being assessed, attention now turns to their next fixture as they aim to continue their FA Cup journey while managing the fitness concerns of their key players.
