Izuchukwu Okosi43Newcastle United’s Allan Saint-Maximin on Friday won the award for the August Budweiser ‘Goal of the Month’ for his stunning volley against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Saint-Maximin met Hwang Hee-chan’s high clearance with a first-time effort from the edge of the box that flew past goalkeeper Jose Sa before he could react.
Wolves also scored a fantastic goal similar to the award winning goal through Ruben Neves.
Not only was it a stunning strike but it was also a 90th-minute equaliser that preserved Newcastle’s unbeaten start to the season.
Meanwhile teammate Nick Pope’s superb stop for Newcastle United at Brighton & Hove Albion has been voted August’s Castrol Save of the Month.
Pope showed superb reflexes as he dived to his left, keeping out a downward header from midfielder Adam Lallana and earning Newcastle a point.
It ensured the 30-year-old finished his first two matches at his new club with clean sheets in both, following his summer move from Burnley.
Pope is the first ever winner of the Castrol Save of the Month award. He topped a shortlist featuring seven other sensational saves by goalkeepers across August.
“It’s not something you quite expect and it’s nice to be the first winner of the award,” he said.
“Before the cross comes in you’re thinking ‘Can I come out and affect the cross, come out and punch it, catch it and make that split-second decision?’
“I saw him flying in, thinking he was favourite to win the header, so luckily enough I hit the ground and managed to turn it around the post.”
Leeds United forward Sonny Perkins was named August 2022 Premier League 2 Player of the Month for his, promising performances in the Month under review.
The 18-year-old summer signing earns the accolade after scoring five goals in his first four Premier League 2 Division 2 matches for the Whites, including a brace to earn a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.
Perkins claims the PL2 prize for the second time, having also won April’s award during his time with West Ham United.
He topped an eight-man shortlist that included his Leeds team-mate Mateo Fernandez, as well as Thomas Cannon (Everton), Tawanda Maswanhise (Leicester City), Max Thompson (Sunderland), Dominic Ballard (Southampton), Abu Kamara (Norwich City) and Oliver O’Neill (Fulham).
Perkins was selected as the winner by the Premier League Football Development Panel after PL2 club coaches chose the best performance by an opposing player in each of their league matches during August.
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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