Events that led to Forest’s Awoniyi being put in induced coma, Man City eye Reijnders

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We’re bringing you concerning developments from Nottingham Forest, where a freak injury has left one of their players in a coma.

Plus: Manchester City’s approach for Milan midfielder, Sunderland’s last-gasp play-off thrill, and the strangest penalty concession you’ll see today.

Awoniyi worry: Forest striker in induced coma after collision led to urgent surgery

When Nottingham Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi collided with a goalpost on Sunday, he was chasing a lost cause. The chance he tried to finish would not have counted because Anthony Elanga had strayed a mile offside in the build-up. The assistant referee merely followed a (somewhat daft) directive to keep her flag down until the attack was over.

The consequences of that fleeting moment in a 2-2 draw with Leicester City have been extensive and dramatic. First, at full time, we witnessed a tense, on-field exchange between a visibly angry Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, and head coach Nuno Espirito Santo. Then, on Monday, Awoniyi was sent for an emergency operation on abdominal injuries caused by the collision. And yesterday came the worrying news that the 27-year-old forward had been placed in an induced coma.

Twelve hours or so before the latest update, Forest announced that Awoniyi was “recovering well so far” having undergone surgery. We’ll keep you posted with further developments as soon as they land. The club’s primary concern will be Awoniyi’s swift and full recovery, but there is palpable frustration at the City Ground, not least in the mind of Marinakis, over the fact Awoniyi tried to play on against Leicester.

The incident involving him happened very late in the game and Forest — in pursuit of Champions League qualification — were pushing for a winning goal. Awoniyi received around three minutes of treatment pitchside before rejoining the contest in injury-time. He was in obvious discomfort, but while tending to him, Forest chose to use their last substitution, so had no way of replacing him.

Nuno explained afterwards that Marinakis’ exasperation stemmed from that decision. Forest’s boss described the failure to replace Awoniyi, rather than attempt to nurse him through the closing stages, as “a misunderstanding between the coaching staff and the medical department”. But that hasn’t been the end of it.

Marinakis questions medics

The sight of Marinakis appearing to confront Nuno on the field inevitably made headlines. Forest, despite an excellent season all round, have slipped out of the Premier League’s Champions League places after one win in six. It was easy to interpret Marinakis’ reaction as an owner losing patience with his coach.

Marinakis countered that assumption in a post on Instagram, saying his annoyance concerned “the injury of Taiwo and the medical staff’s misjudgement of Taiwo’s ability to continue the game”. Yesterday, and prior to news of Awoniyi’s induced coma breaking, Forest doubled down with an official club statement, rejecting reports of a “confrontation” between Marinakis and Nuno as “fake news”.

“The truth of the matter is that there was no confrontation, with Nuno or with others,” the statement said. “There was only a shared frustration between all of us that the medical team should never have allowed the player to continue.” You wonder what the medics responsible made of that. To this point, none of them have commented.

For now, we can only cross fingers for Awoniyi, but we haven’t heard the last of the matter: a nasty injury and political fall-out caused by a brave and committed lunge for a goal which was never going to stand. A few short seconds of one Premier League match leaves much to reflect on.

News round-up

Transfer talk: Man City keen on Reijnders, what we know about Frimpong to Liverpool

If you’re watching tonight’s Coppa Italia final between Milan and Bologna, pay attention to Milan’s Dutch midfielder, Tijjani Reijnders (pronounced ‘rainders’ — think Rudolph and co).

(Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

Here’s how he described himself to The Athletic’s James Horncastle: “I’m a typical box-to-box player, helping the team build up and find the connection to the attack — either serving my team-mates with passes or being in the box myself, and being important with goals.”

Manchester City evidently like the product description because Reijnders, 26 (above), is firmly on their transfer radar. The club have expressed an interest in signing him and they’re all-in on strengthening their midfield, with designs on Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White and Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, too. There’s no way they have the financial wiggle room to do those two plus Reijnders, so I’m intrigued to see how the cards fall.

The wheels have also started turning at Liverpool, who are thinking about compensating for the loss of Trent Alexander-Arnold by taking right-back Jeremie Frimpong from Leverkusen. He’s priced at just under £30m ($40m) and that’s tidy value for a 24-year-old Netherlands international.

The transfer window is shaping up to be key for the Premier League’s heavyweights because while Liverpool have run away with the title this time, you sense that they, City and Arsenal think it’s up for grabs big time in 2025-26. Transfer wise, they’re going to get busy.

Golden touch: Ballard’s extra-time winner sees Sunderland get shot at EPL

We have our line-up for the Championship play-off final, that precious shot at Premier League wonga. It’s Sheffield United versus Sunderland, to be staged at Wembley on May 24.

(Sky Sports)

Sunderland beating Coventry with the last kick of extra time last night was the yin to the yang of Sheffield United flaying Bristol City 6-0 over two legs. I don’t know what it is about the EFL play-offs, but they drag people to the edge; long, hard seasons staked on brutal tests of nerve. They’re the best of times and the worst of times, which is why clubs love and hate them.

Dan Ballard dragging Sunderland through, with a header off the crossbar in the 122nd minute of a semi-final’s second leg, is the perfect example of the potential value of one touch of the ball, particularly in the Championship. Promotion for Sunderland or Sheffield United would be worth in excess of £200m. That’s the size of the bounty above them. No wonder the play-off final has come to be known as the most lucrative game in football.

Around The Athletic FC

(Courtesy of U.S. Soccer)

• The latest kits for the USMNT and USWNT have dropped (not the shirts for the World Cup — those reveals will come later down the line). Pablo Maurer likes the simplicity of them but feels the designers should go “daring, bold and brash” for 2026, much like they did in 1994.
• American soccer superstar Alex Morgan is joining San Diego Wave FC’s investment group. Eight months ago, she ended her stellar playing career there.
• Just to follow up on yesterday’s lead about the Glazer family, nowhere will you find a more visual depiction of their 20 years at Manchester United than in Chris Weatherspoon’s analysis today. It’s exhaustive, rigorous and excellent.
• This is a fun column from NBC presenter Rebecca Lowe. She’s travelling 6,000 miles to watch Crystal Palace contest the FA Cup final — and, if it works out, lift their first major trophy — on Saturday. Her father, a BBC newsreader in the UK, got her into supporting them in the 1980s.
• Most clicked in yesterday’s TAFC: once again, salty David Beckham.

Catch a match

(Selected games, times ET/UK)

Coppa Italia final: Milan vs Bologna, 3pm/8pm — CBS, Paramount+, Fubo/Premier Sports.

La Liga: Villarreal vs Leganes, 1pm/6pm; Real Madrid vs Mallorca, 3.30pm/8.30pm — both ESPN+, Fubo/Premier Sports.

And finally…

(Sport TV)

Fun and games in Portugal, where the Primeira Liga title has come down to the final weekend. Sporting CP (Ruben Amorim’s old team) and Benfica are tied on 79 points. Sporting have a marginally superior goal difference. Saturday could be tasty.

More entertaining again, I thought, was Porto’s concession of a penalty against Boavista in the penultimate round of matches — given when one defender, Ze Pedro, booted a clearance against the arm of another defender, Nehuen Perez (above). The only reason Perez had his hand in the air was to tell Ze Pedro to hoof it. I’ve seen most things in my 45 years, but I can’t remember a more random award than this.

(Top photo: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

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