Izuchukwu OkosiTottenham Hotspur twice came from behind to hold off North London rivals, Arsenal to a 2-2 draw in the first North London derby of the season at the Emirates stadium on Sunday evening.
The duo of Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah were tormenting the visitors earlier in the game and it finally paid off as Spurs’ Cristian Romero inadvertently deflected Bukayo Saka cross into his team’s net.
Tottenham soon restored parity through Hueng Min-Son who got on to the end of a good cross by Nigerian-born Italian youth international Destiny Udogie.
With the score levelled at one-all, the match hung in the balance, with Arsenal exerting relentless pressure, seeking to replicate their outstanding performance against PSV earlier in the week.
Tottenham, however, demonstrated resilience, withstanding Arsenal’s attacks and remaining competitive. Arsenal’s supporters in the stands had high expectations, even though Spurs had started the season well. Unfortunately, Arsenal struggled to fulfil their early promise in the game.
Their path to regain the lead involved a penalty converted by Bukayo Saka, but this advantage lasted for just a minute, as Son promptly equalised for Spurs once more following an error from Jorginho.
Mikel Arteta had to make do without Declan Rice in the second half, as the high-profile signing appeared to have suffered an injury, leaving a noticeable void in the Gunners’ lineup.
In the end, Tottenham earned a well-deserved point, as Arteta’s team selection and tactical adjustments failed to yield the desired impact.
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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