Noni Madueke’s decisive strike at The City Ground salvaged three points, proving the Gunners possess the grit and champion spirit necessary to hunt down Manchester City.
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Noni Madueke has hailed Arsenal’s ‘champion spirit’ and ‘extra belief’ after the Gunners struggled to a 1-0 victory against Oliver Glasner’s Nottingham Forest side on Sunday afternoon.
Madueke, who came on as a second half substitute, replacing Eberechi Eze, scored his first Premier League goal of the season to give Arsenal a crucial away win at The City Ground as Arteta’s side look to hunt down Manchester City, who sit first in the Premier League.
Arsenal were largely uninspiring for the majority of the 90 minutes in the victory, but the introduction of Madueke on the left wing did give Arsenal a slight spark. The 24 year-old eventually broke the deadlock in the 80th minute, after his deflected right footed shot from the edge of the box found its way past Mats Sels in the Nottingham Forest net, to send those Arsenal fans behind the goal in the away end at The City Ground into raptures.
Speaking to the Sky Sports cameras after the full time whistle, Noni Madueke commended Arsenal’s ‘champions spirit’ to get over the line in yesterday’s game. The England international said “We showed grit and determination, and I think we showed a champion's spirit.” referencing the Gunners ability to get over the line despite a poor showing.
Madueke touched on how hard getting a result at The City Ground is and was delighted that Arsenal managed to get across the line. ‘This place is so hard to come to, everybody knows it. They make it so difficult for you’, he admitted. Despite not registering a goal on home soil yet, Nottingham Forest have proved a tough force to break down at home this season, with three 1-0 scorelines and a 0-0 scoreline registered so far.
Noni Madueke celebrates after scoring in Arsenal's 0-1 win at The City Ground (IMAGO / IPS)
Noni Madueke celebrates after scoring in Arsenal's 0-1 win at The City Ground (IMAGO / IPS)
Touching on his goal, the winger exclaimed how he had beaten his man a few times down the outside, and so wanted to test his opposite man by cutting inside. The first time he tried, he was rewarded with the winning goal. ‘I had beaten him a couple of times on the outside. I thought, “Come inside and leather it”.’
Last night's match winner also feels there is a different belief in the Arsenal side this season to last season, ‘We have that extra belief, that extra mentality now and we know we're the champions and we know we can pull it out the bag wherever we go,’ he added.
With Christos Tzolis still on the sideline, Madueke has a real opportunity to make the left wing position his, and after a positive showing in yesterday’s victory, he may just have won himself a starting spot at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night and beyond.
Arsenal travel to Germany on Wednesday evening to face six-time UEFA Champions League winners Bayern Munich before hosting David Moyes’ Everton on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League.