Izuchukwu OkosiArsenal secured their passage into the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 14 years after a breathtaking 4-2 penalty kick win against Porto at the Emirates stadium on Tuesday night, reports Prime Business Africa.
The Gunners who had not qualified for the quarterfinals of the competition since 2010 lost the first leg tie 1-0 away to the Portuguese side thanks to a late strike in the game.
Porto however took no prisoners as they made the Gunners earn their win in the hard way. Last season, Sporting Lisbon eliminated Mikel Arteta’s team in the Europa League competition via penalty shootout.
Both sides had numerous chances albiet Porto were more assertive even in at an away ground.
Evanilson fired two warning shots early in the first half which David Raya dealt with. Bukayo Saka also had his opportunity but could not find a breakthrough.
Leandro Trossard eventually broke the deadlock for Arsenal with a low shot fired to the bottom right corner after he was picked out by Declan Rice.
Martin Odegaard had the ball inside the net but the goal was ruled out as Kai Havertz was deemed to have pulled the jersey of an opponent on the way to releasing his captain.
The game went into extra time after both sides failed to find the back of the net in 90 minutes of football.
In the penalty shootout that ensued, Arsenal scored four of their takes from the spots through Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka while Porto lost two or their kicks to the next round of the competition.
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.
