Jarrod Bowen collided with the goalpost in West Ham’s match against Nottingham Forest in an incident reminiscent of Taiwo Awoniyi’s recent accident.
The West Ham star required treatment in the first half of Sunday’s clash at the London Stadium after running into the post while the Hammers attacked.
Forest stars quickly waved on medics for their opponent and he was treated on the pitch for several minutes.
After briefly coming off, Bowen, 28, was permitted to re-enter the action.
It is striking that his collision came against the very club who had been sweating over Awoniyi’s condition.
The Forest striker was put in an induced coma earlier this week after crashing into the woodwork in a 2-2 draw with Leicester.
Awoniyi could not be substituted because Forest had used their last available switch to replace Elliot Anderson with Jota Silva. The forward tried to carry on, but was unable to move properly as Forest chased a late winner.
Nuno Espirito Santo revealed before Sunday’s game that Awoniyi will remain in hospital for at least a few more days, meaning he was unable to journey to east London in support of his team-mates.
But that didn’t stop him from sending his best wishes from a distance, as the Nigerian frontman wished his team-mates well for their final two games of the season in a statement on social media.
Awoniyi wrote: ‘This season has been one of the most difficult of my career but through it all, I have felt the love. With the grace of God, I am grateful to still be here, to still be fighting, to still be smiling, and to be in good spirits.
‘To my teammates, coaches, staff and the entire Forest family, thank you for your well wishes, seeing you all on your visit to the hospital lifted my spirits more than words can say. Wishing the boys the very best in these last two games, keep believing and keep pushing. I’m with you all the way and I can’t wait to be back out there with the boys doing what I love.
‘To my family, friends and football fans, thank you for the support, and to everyone back home in Nigeria who has checked in on me, prayed for me and left kind words, thank you. I see them. I feel them. And I carry them with me every day as I recover. Come on you Reds.’
Forest’s squad warmed up in blank white shirts, with the words, ‘We’re all with you Taiwo’ on the front, and Awoniyi’s name and No 9 on the back.
After Morgan Gibbs-White opened the scoring against West Ham, he held up Awoniyi’s shirt in celebration.
In Awoniyi’s late absence against Leicester, Forest were left to play the last few minutes with 10 men, which led to owner appeared Evangelos Marinakis taking issue with Nuno at full-time.
Forest released a statement after the fact, clarifying that ‘there was no confrontation’ between their owner and manager, but a ‘shared frustration that the medical team should never have allowed the player to continue’.
After spending most of the season in the top five, Forest have slipped out of the Champions League spots – even though last weekend’s disappointing result against Leicester at least guaranteed they would compete in European football for the first time this century.
Even two victories at this stage of the competition might not be enough, as they now must rely on their opponents to drop points.
More to follow.
