Taiwo Awoniyi netted a double in Nottingham Forest’s enthralling 4-3 victory over Southampton, Monday, lifting them out of the Premier League relegation zone to 16th place.

Awoniyi has also now scored six times in his debut season, leading a late charge for his Forest team after a lengthy injury spell.

For his first goal on the night, Danilo sent a wonderful diagonal pass to Brennan Johnson, who deftly set up Awoniyi to blast the ball past Alex McCarthy.

Just three minutes later, the Nigerian striker scored again as Danilo took advantage of a lucky deflection to nudge the ball in the direction of Awoniyi, who then volleyed in his second goal on the pivot.

Two minutes later, Awoniyi had a remarkable chance to secure a hat-trick, yet he was too eager and his shot went wide of the left post, missing the opportunity.

Meanwhile, his compatriot, Paul Onuachu made a cameo in the match.

Hr came off the bench for Southampton, but was ineffective and could only force a corner in the dying embers of the match after he was introduced in the 76th minute.

The result moves Nottingham Forest, a point above Everton, who also won their match in a shock 5-1 victory over Brighton at the AmEx, while Southampton remain rock bottom.