Izuchukwu OkosiDespite playing against a much better Arsenal side in comparison with the ones they easily overran few seasons ago, Bayern Munich enacted some measure of superiority over the Gunners Wednesday night in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.
The first leg tie had ended in 2-2 draw at the Emirates stadium and the two teams came into the second leg desperate to get one over the other after their domestic league faltering.
Bayern lost the Bundesliga outing to Bayer Leverkusen over the weekend after 11 years of stronghold.
For Arsenal, last weekend, they lost 0-2 at home to Aston Villa in the Premier League which was their first defeat of 2024 in the Premier League.
Bayern Munich defended meticulously and hoped to break the Gunners on the counter.
That did not work as planned.
Martin Ordegaard and Gabriel Martinelli for Arsenal, and Bayern’s Leroy Sane were guilty of missing chances that could ultimately have put their respective teams ahead.
In the second half however, things took a different turn as Bayern won more possession of the ball and it paid off with a 63rd minute corner by Madrid.
Raphael Gurriero found an unmarked Joshua Kimich whose lovely header beat the outstretched arms of David Raya.
The Bavarians put aside all defensive plans knowing the attacking threat that Arsenal possess but there was no further goals for either side.
The Gunners will head back to London hoping to pick up the pieces of what is left of their season as Wolverhampton Wanderers welcome them on Saturday.
Bayern are on course to finish in a runners-up place behind the already crowned Bayer Leverkusen.
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.
