Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta heaped praise on Noni Madueke following the 2-1 comeback win over Leeds United in the Premier League.
The Gunners suffered a dismal 3-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break, and had to respond with a victory at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.
They had to do it the hard way. Leeds were the better side at the start of the second half and took a deserved lead in the 55th minute through James Justin.
However, Arsenal responded soon after with two quick-fire goals in eight minutes.
Riccardo Calafiori got on the right end of a Ben White header to equalise. Bruno Guimaraes went on to score the winner after a lovely back flick from Declan Rice.
Calafiori and Guimaraes earned most of the plaudits for their goals, but manager Mikel Arteta was delighted with the performance of Madueke on the day.
Speaking after the 2-1 victory, Arteta said that he is ‘really happy’ with the Englishman, who grabbed the opportunity to start on the left wing with both hands.
The Spaniard added that Madueke had been ‘the best player’ in training for the last 10 days, and he had no option but to start the winger.
He said (via Arsenal.com): “I’m really happy with him because he deserves the chance that he got, and he grabbed it with both hands.
“When I haven’t liked too much what he was doing and it was impacting the game, I made certain decisions, and he has accepted them.
“What he’s done is raised the level and in training he’s been the best player in the last 10 days.
“He gave me no option not to select him and not to play him today, and you could see that every time he was in and around the box, he looked a threat.”
Madueke has not played much as a left winger in his career. Looking at the stats, he has made only 16 appearances in the position. One of those came yesterday.
The Englishman had a slow start to proceedings but gained in confidence as the first half progressed. He provided one fantastic delivery which Kai Havertz failed to convert.
Madueke continued to impress with his distribution. He made five successful crosses overall and one of those contributed to Calafiori putting the Gunners level in the 62nd minute.
The 24-year-old delivered a lovely long cross to White with his weaker right foot. The right-back went on to cushion his header into the six-yard box for Calafiori to score.
Overall, it was a memorable game for Madueke, who completed 100 percent of his dribbles (2/2). He also created four chances for his teammates and completed 33 passes.
Madueke’s future was recently the subject of speculation. The Telegraph claimed that Atletico Madrid and Juventus have their sights on landing the winger in January.
Madueke will have been frustrated by the lack of regular league minutes at the start of the season, but now has a big platform on the left wing with Christos Tzolis injured.
He had a sublime showing against Leeds at the Emirates, and the onus is on him to find consistency and become a regular starter from the left-wing position for the long run.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com