By Henry Okoduwa
Defenders are often not known to score goals because they are usually not expected to. Their primary duty has always been to ensure that strikers of opposing teams do not have access to their goal areas.
But there is always a special quality they bring into the act of scoring goals on the rare occasions they do get on their team's scoresheet.
Such moments turn out real spectacles for the fans who are given something different from what they are usually accustomed.
Ola Aina (full names, Temitayo Olufisayo Olaoluwa Aina) sparked excitement at the City Ground, the home turf of Nottingham Forest when he led his team to a commanding victory over Aston Villa on Sunday.
The Super Eagles star who recently joined the club from former team, Fulham was named in Steve Cooper's starting line up for the important fixture as he searched for his first win in seven Premier League games.
The Nigerian star who had previously had stints with Chelsea, Hull City, Torino, Fulham, etc, was actually part of the manager's back four, charged with keeping Aston Villa's forwards at bay.
But he did decide to be adventurous for once, straying forward on a few occasions as the game took off on a frenetic pace.
Now, at the opposing end was Emiliano Martinez, the intimidating goalkeeper who is famed for taunting opponents. The Argentine keeper who left Arsenal two seasons ago has often forced opposing strikers to make mistakes by playing on their psychology.
His mind games have often tended to work especially during penalty shoot-outs.
On two occasions in the last two years, he has reaped the gains of his unique brand of psychological warfare as he stood resolutely between the sticks to thwart the Samba Boys of Brazil in the 2021 Copa America final, and against the Le Bleus of France in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup finals in Doha.
He not only ensured that he dived, sprawled, parried, and saved shots of opposing strikers to give his country victory in those crucial finals, he even taunted Kylian Mbappe -- the man who scored a hattrick against his country in the World Cup finals -- with an obscene gesture that elicited mixed reactions amongst football fans worldwide.
Ola Aina knew who Martinez was, but did he allow it to affect his performance in last Sunday's game? Obviously not, as events later proved
No one can tell what was on his mind when he strayed into Villa's vital area at the City Ground on this fateful day, but it was clear Ola Aina was on a mission.
That mission was soon to be accomplished exactly five minutes into the game as a move that was initiated by former Manchester United star, Anthony Elsnga would provide the perfect opportunity for Aina to make hay.
The Nigerian appeared to say, "Thank you," to Harry Toffolo who had laid him the sumptuous pass with which he hit home the curtain raiser. The goal -- a thunderous shot which zipped past the usually cocky Martinez -- was typical of a missile fired into space at supersonic speed.
The Argentine keeper -- winner of the Yashin Trophy Best Goalkeeper prize at the Ballon D'or awards on October 30 -- neither saw the shot coming, nor did he know how it whizzed past him into the net for the game's opener.
It was Ola Aina's first goal for Nottingham Forest and it was special. As it turned out, the goal would pave the way for a deserving win for the home team on a day Villa missed the opportunity to leapfrog Arsenal into third place on the Premier League table.
Aina was scoring only just his 5th goal in 144 appearances in a top flight league football game, but no one could deny that it was worth the wait.
Orel Mangala, his teammate, did score the second goal -- which was an icing on the cake -- in the 47th minute to help Forest jump from 16th to 12th on the league table, but it is easily Ola Aina's stunner that will be remembered by Forest fans for a long time to come.
For them, they now have two Nigerian heroes -- Taiwo Awoniyi, the man who singlehandedly kept them in the Premier League through his goal scoring heroics last season -- being the first, and now, Aina.
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