Taiwo Awoniyi lifted Nottingham Forest out of the relegation zone with their first away win of the Premier League season on Wednesday as Southampton sank to a 1-0 defeat at St Mary’s and remained rooted to the bottom of the table.
Forest’s goal, only their second away this season, was a 27th minute close range tap-in after Brennan Johnson pounced on an error by Brazilian defender Lyanco and squared to the Nigeria international.
Southampton, with the Premier League’s worst home record, squandered early chances and were booed off after a first half with no shots on target.
They have now lost their first four league games under new manager Nathan Jones and six in a row.
Steve Cooper’s Forest, the side with the league’s worst away record, had not scored on the road in the top flight since a 1-1 draw at Everton last August but could have had more with Johnson rattling the crossbar after 12 minutes.
Forest moved up to 15th with 17 points while Southampton are on 12.
