Nigeria international, Ola Aina scored for Nottingham Forest over the week, and he’s received praise from past and present teammates.
The 27-year-old scored his first goal for the club during a 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
Aina scored a wonderfully well-taken goal in the sixth minute of the clash. After Harry Toffolo had put the ball into a good area, the Nigeria international ran onto it and planted his effort beyond Emi Martinez.
It was a welcome victory for Forest that needed a win to stop a run of six winless outings in the Premier League. Aina’s goal was followed in the second half by a strike by Orel Mangala in the 47th minute, with the Reds seeing the game out.
PRAISES FOR AINA
It’s quite intriguing that Aina has been receiving some praise from teammates of old and they’ve had some fun with the Forest man.
Fulham pair, Alex Iwobi and Tosin Adarabioyo, who are his country teammates were the two players to comment on his Instagram post.
Iwobi said: “Don’t Shoot, Sorry My Bad!!!”, in a seeming dig towards the defender not scoring many goals. In truth, he’s probably got a point!
Adarabioyo was next to weigh in with a comment. He said: “Only bangers in the Premier init?!”, with the centre-back playing alongside Aina during his loan at Fulham previously.
Several Forest stars also reacted to Aina scoring, with Callum Hudson-Odoi summing the strike up perfectly. He put the flame emoji alongside the word, ‘Luluuuuuu’, which appears to be a nickname for Aina.
Steve Cooper also praised his side for sticking to the game plan.
“I felt we were good for the win,” he said.
“Villa had a lot of the ball, they never really peppered our goal, but they’re one of the in-form teams in the league. You see where they are, the players they’ve signed and who the manager is, you know you’re coming up against a really good team.
“I thought our goals were excellent in terms of the moves. For Orel to get in that area, it’s a great strike for the second goal, and the move that led to the first goal is excellent and something we worked on in terms of getting into that area, you just want the talent to take over and for them to believe in themselves.
“There’s a lot that goes on tactically against Villa in the way they play with their box in midfield. You really have to match it, because if you don’t, they can hurt you, but tactically without the ball we were absolutely brilliant.
“There were some brilliant individual performances and there’s a lot of gratitude from me to them for sticking to the plan.”
Aina is now getting a proper crack of the whip under Cooper in the Premier League. The talented defender has already showcased his quality during the current campaign and he can play on both sides of the defensive unit.
Forest paid big money to sign lots of players in the summer. However, in terms of being savvy, the club haven’t really signed any better than Aina on a free transfer.
The challenge for Aina is to maintain his position as a regular in the Forest team. On current form, there is absolutely no danger of him losing his place any time soon.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
