Izuchukwu OkosiArsenal manager Mikel Arteta on Sunday admitted that his side are in the title race after a statement victory at Stamford Bridge.
Gunners defender Gabriel scored the second-half winner from a Bukayo Saka corner kick as Arsenal reclaimed top spot in the Premier League from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Arteta, who was taking charge of his 150th game, has been reluctant to talk up Arsenal’s chances but admitted they are in the hunt – at least for the moment.
When asked in his post match press conference if his side are in the title race, the Arsenal boss had this to say:
“We are today. But in football, today and tomorrow is a very different. So let’s enjoy this time. But do something: just look at the last six years, what Manchester City have done. With the best manager in the world, the best team in the world. They have shown it consistently in every single competition.
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“We have to be very, very respectful of that. We are getting much better as a team and competing much better. We are getting really good results right now, but this is a long long marathon.
“We were under pressure because we lost the top spot. I’m really happy because they’ve done that step. It was a big win for us. It’s another step for us I think.
“To come here against a top opponent, top, world-class players all over the pitch, dominate the game and actually win, it is very meaningful. Hopefully it will give the boys even more belief. I was really impressed.
“We are a young team, but we showed a lot maturity today, a lot of composure, a lot courage to play on this stage the way we have played. That’s easy to say but actually very difficult to do. I think the boys were absolutely phenomenal today.”
Arsenal match-winner Gabriel also took a dig at Chelsea ’s former Gunners hero Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who took part in a BT Sport advert ahead of the match in which he said: “Nothing personal… London is Blue.”
Gabriel tweeted after the game: “Nothing Personal… London is Red.”
Aubameyang was substituted shortly after the hour mark after only having eight touches of the ball in the game.
The Gabonese was also yellow-carded for a foul on former teammate Ben White.
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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