Nigeria Super Eagles forward Taiwo Awoniyi has been nominated for the August 2023 Premier League Player of the Month award, www.aclsports.com reports.
Awoniyi, 26, has had a great start to the season for Nottingham Forest. The Nigerian has started the campaign in red-hot form, scoring three goals in as many Premier League outings in August, before registering an assist for Anthony Elanga in Saturday’s 1-0 away win at Chelsea.
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Awoniyi is nominated along side Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), James Maddison (Spurs), Rodri (Man City), Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford) and Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton) for the first monthly prize of the season.
The striker started the season on the bench against Arsenal at the Emirates but came on to score a late consolation, before scoring three minutes into Forest’s 2-1 home win over Sheffield United.
In the same manner, the striker also scored early on in Steve Cooper’s Forest’s dramatic defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, as last season’s top goalscorer looks to top the charts again this term.
The former Liverpool forward, after scoring in each of Nottingham Forest’s first three matches, extended his overall scoring streak dating back to last season to seven consecutive Premier League matches, only the third African player to do so.
The public votes for the award will be combined with those of a panel of football experts to decide the winner, who will be announced next week.
Awoniyi is aiming to become the first Nigerian to win the award since Kelechi Iheanacho won it with Leicester City back in March 2021.
The forward whose run of consecutive goals ended with an assist in Forest’s famous win over Chelsea last weekend has since reported for international duty with Nigeria’s Super Eagles who face Sao Tome and Principe in a final 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying game in Uyo on Sunday.
