Izuchukwu Okosi
Premier League leaders Arsenal stepped up their preparations for the league restart on Boxing day with an emphatic 3-0 win over French club Lyon in the Dubai Super Cup on Thursday evening reports Prime Business Africa.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta named a strong eleven available to him amid the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and had Nigerian youngsters Ethan Nwaneri and Nathan Butler-Oyedej on the substitute bench.
Gabriel, Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira scored the three goals for the Gunners.
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Lyon paraded former Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette whose contract came to its end June 30th.
Brazilian defender Gabriel opened the north London side’s account first in the 19th minute when he headed home from a corner delivered by captain Martin Ordegaard.
Nketiah doubled the lead 12 minutes before the half time break when Fabio Vieria squared the ball onto his path inside the box. Vieira then made it irredeemable for Lyon in the 39th minute with a terrific strike from distance.
Arteta then introduced Nwaneri and Butler-Oyedej in the 67th minute as he rested his first team players captained by Egypt’s Mohamed Elneny.
The Anglo-Nigerians teens came close to scoring for their team but missed their respective chances by the whiskers.
Despite the clear victory, the rules of the Dubai Super Cup required penalties to be played which Arteta’s team won albeit the duo of Nwaneri and Butler-Oyedeji were not part of the takers.
Arsenal are five points above Premier League defending champions Manchester City who they will face in a rescheduled fixture on 15th February 2023.
Serie A champions AC Milan is the next opponents for Arsenal on Tuesday, 13 December, five days before the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar
Clubs are taking part in friendlies in a bid to keep their players not on World Cup duties in tip top shape before the international break rounds off.
Arsenal will also face Juvemtus in the Dubai Super Cup.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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