Liverpool's revival hopes take a hit as Nottingham Forest seal famous win

Taiwo Awoniyi helps team move out of the bottom of Premier League table

Soccer Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Liverpool - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - October 22, 2022 Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk reacts REUTERS/David Klein EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi celebrates scoring against Liverpool on Saturday. Reuters

Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi scores the winner on Saturday. Reuters

Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi, second right, celebrates with his team-mates after scoring against Liverpool. AP

Nottingham Forest defeated Liverpool at the City Ground on Saturday. AP

James Milner of Liverpool battles for possession with Neco Williams of Nottingham Forest. Getty

Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest battles for possession with Curtis Jones of Liverpool. Getty

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah looks dejected in Nottingham. AP

Nottingham Forest stunned Liverpool as Taiwo Awoniyi sealed a 1-0 win with a second-half goal to lift the Midlands club off the foot of the Premier League table on Saturday.

Forest thus ended their 10-game winless streak in style as Awoniyi returned to haunt his former club and stall their Premier League revival.

Awoniyi was on the books at Anfield for six years without ever playing for them, but showed Jurgen Klopp what he was all about.

Liverpool were below par and would have few complaints as Forest produced a superb performance to earn their second win of the season.

The Reds were without the firepower of the injured Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz and it showed as they lacked the spark needed to unlock a deep-lying Forest defence.

Klopp's team have now already lost more league games in the first 11 matches than in the whole of last season when they lost out on the title to Manchester City by just a point.

The Reds looked to have turned a corner after wins over City and West Ham the previous week but took a step back after Saturday's result.

Forest went ahead in the 55th minute when Awoniyi poached a rebound after his initial effort struck the post. The hosts were dangerous on the counter-attack and had several chances to give themselves some breathing space.

But they were indebted to keeper Dean Henderson who made a series of saves, the best coming in stoppage time when he somehow kept out a sensational Virgil van Dijk close-range header from a corner.

Forest could have wrapped it up earlier in the 85th minute as Morgan Gibbs-White played Ryan Yates through, but Alisson produced a brilliant stop with his outstretched arm.

Forest held on and moved to 19th place with nine points from 12 games, one ahead of Leicester City.