Coventry City manager Frank Lampard has praised Taiwo Awoniyi for his strong showing in their 4-2 Carabao Cup win over Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday. The Nigerian scored a goal and provided an assist to help his new team move to the next round, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Awoniyi scored his first goal for Coventry with a nice finish before assisting Jack Rudoni to help the Sky Blues reach the third round of the Carabao Cup after a thrilling match away at Plymouth Argyle.
Coventry quickly took a two-goal lead after just five minutes with goals from Awoniyi and Rudoni.
Liam Kitching played the ball to Caleb Yirenkyi, who flicked it perfectly to Awoniyi. The Nigerian forward calmly placed the ball past James Storer to score his first goal for Coventry.
Just two minutes later, Awoniyi assisted Rudoni to double Coventry's lead as they looked set for an easy win.
But Argyle fought back with goals from Oliver Irow and Xavier Amaechi to equalize the match. The Sky Blues regrouped and regained control with goals from Ephron Mason-Clark and Victor Torp.
Lampard was especially impressed with how well Awoniyi connected with his teammates during the build-up to the first two goals.
"We did have a great start to the game, obviously. Great goals. Taiwo’s goal was brilliant. Great play from us, playing through them and him getting his goal," Lampard said in a chat on the club’s YouTube channel.
"It was a really good play and that’s what we brought Caleb here for. He’s a really, really talented young man. There’s so much to his game which is going to get better, and Taiwo was ready to run behind. Took it very, very clean. I was right behind it, actually. He didn’t have much to aim for and got it right in the corner."
The goal was Awoniyi’s first for Coventry and came in just his second match for the club. He made his debut as a substitute in their 3-0 loss to Arsenal last Friday.
Awoniyi joined the newly promoted Premier League team on a permanent deal from Nottingham Forest, a transfer worth around £9m before the season began.
The striker played the last four seasons in the Premier League with Forest, scoring 21 league goals in 90 matches and 23 goals in 103 games across all competitions.
He netted 11 goals in his first season at the City Ground, helping Forest avoid relegation in their first year back in the top league and reach the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Awoniyi was also part of the Forest team that finished seventh and qualified for European football in the 2024/25 season, becoming an important member of the squad.
His next challenge with Coventry will be a home debut against fellow newly-promoted side Hull City in the Premier League on Saturday.
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