Nottingham Forest secured their premier league status with a 1-0 victory over Arsenal lost 1-0 at the city ground on Saturday evening.
Awoniyi’s hot streak, with five goals in three games, helped Steve Cooper’s side lift themselves out of the bottom three and they can no longer be caught by Southampton, Leicester or Everton.
It completes an impressive job by Cooper, who repaid Forest for the faith they showed when backing him amid their poor run, and his stock continues to rise.
Everton’s draw at Wolves earlier in the day meant Forest came into the game knowing a win would guarantee their safety.
And backed by a vociferous home crowd, desperate to see their side secure survival at the place where they have won so many of their points this season, they made a strong start as Arsenal’s defence survived some early pressure.
The Gunners began to assert some level of control and Gabriel Jesus was denied by Forest goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who came out quickly to smother the ball, while the Brazilian nodded over at the far post.
But the City Ground exploded in the 19th minute as Forest punished their visitors with a lightning counter-attack.
Martin Odegaard loosely passed straight to Morgan Gibbs-White who surged forward at pace before feeding Awoniyi, who enjoyed a bit of fortune as Gabriel’s challenge bobbled against his leg and he scuffed past Aaron Ramsdale.
After recycling a free-kick, Renan Lodi’s ball back in found Felipe and his shot from close range was blocked.
It was more of the same for the Gunners, who had plenty of the ball but did little with it. Bukayo Saka did have a moment of promise when he was played in but he fired straight at Navas.
Instead it was Forest who were pushing for a second and Gibbs-White squandered a good chance when he found the side-netting after taking advantage of Ben White’s slip, before Lodi drilled wide.
As the game entered the final 15 minutes with the holy grail of survival in touching distance, Forest began to sit deep and invite pressure on themselves.
It is unsurprising that nerves were so fraught as no side have conceded more goals in the final 15 minutes of matches than Forest’s 17 and every tackle, block and clearance was greeted with cheers as loud as a goal.
Gibbs-White fired straight at Ramsdale as Forest looked to make it a less tense ending for them, but Arsenal’s poor attacking display meant they were able to hold on to spark mass scenes of celebration.
