Arthur Okonkwo was in action as Wrexham push for a Championship play-off place took a big dent following a 5-1 defeat to Southampton in the English Championship on Tuesday night, North Wales Pioneer reports.
The win saw Southampton move up to sixth on 66 points while Wrexham, on 64 points, drop to seventh place in the league table.
It was a massive game at The Racecourse in the quest to keep alive the dream of securing an unprecedented fourth successive promotion and Phil Parkinson’s side suffered their biggest loss of the season to the in-form Saints who extended their unbeaten record to 16 games in all competitions.
There was no FA Cup hangover from the Saints, who beat Premier League leaders Arsenal at the weekend to reach the semi-finals, and they have moved two points clear of Wrexham with a game in hand.
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Wrexham, who have five fixtures remaining, weren’t in the game for the opening half-an-hour and deservedly trailed 2-0, while Southampton could have been further ahead.
Josh Windass put the Reds back in the game with his 13th goal of the season before the interval, making the midfielder joint top scorer with Kieffer Moore.
The next goal was crucial and the Saints went 3-1 up just after the hour mark before scoring two more after Wrexham had hit the post.
Okonkwo recently switched his international allegiance to Nigeria after appearing for England at youth level.
Born in Camden, London, England to Nigerian parents, Okonkwo began his career at Hampstead Academy before moving on to Lindus Park, where he joined the Arsenal academy as an eight-year-old in 2009.
He signed a senior contract with Arsenal in early July 2021, donning the number 33 for the first team.
Okonkwo made his senior team debut on 13 July 2021, against Hibernian in a friendly, misjudging a back pass from Arsenal teammate Cedric Soares, to grant Martin Boyle a tap-in, in a 2–1 loss to Hibs.
Okonkwo left Arsenal on 30 June 2024 at the expiration of his contract with the club.[13
By James Agberebi
