Arteta Calls Noni Madueke a Special Character After Late Winner at Forest

• Noni Madueke came off the bench at half-time and scored the 80th-minute winner in Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest.
• Mikel Arteta called the winger “a special character” and said he is showing “another level of anger, another level of conviction”.
• Madueke has started just one Premier League game this season, but Tzolis’s hamstring injury has handed him a chance to push for a regular role.

The Winger Who Arrived to a Petition

Arsenal fans did not welcome Noni Madueke with open arms. A petition was started against the signing when he joined from Chelsea for £48.5m, and his performances have been criticised for being inconsistent.

On Sunday, the 24-year-old gave the supporters a reason to look again. Introduced by Arteta at half-time at Nottingham Forest, he scored the only goal of the game in the 80th minute, a deflected shot after he took on defender Daniel Munoz and cut inside onto his weaker right foot.

“I’d beaten him on the outside a couple of times so I thought I’ll come inside and just let rip,” Madueke said. His instructions from Arteta at the break were simple: “Hang in there, stick to the gameplan, go out there and try to attack the opposition, be dangerous, be yourself and be good defensively as well.”

Arteta Praises a Dressing Room Favourite

The goal handed Arteta a chance to talk about Madueke the person, and he took it with a smile. “Noni, look at me, a smile on my face,” the Arsenal manager said when asked about his character, calling the winger “a special character”.

“It’s someone that’s very much loved in and around the dressing room. The way he connects, talks with people. He is just a special guy,” Arteta said.

Arteta recalled an interview in which a few players were asked who they would call if they had a problem. Some of them named Noni, which surprised him. “I think it is a massive credit and describes the type of person he is,” he said.

On the pitch, the manager sees a player moving up a gear. “He is in a good moment,” Arteta said. “After the break, he is showing something else, another level of anger, another level of conviction.” He added that Madueke is “becoming decisive in matches, which is what we expect from a player like him”.

A Chance Created by Tzolis’s Injury

Madueke has started only one top-flight game this season, the 2-1 win over Leeds eight days before the trip to Forest. Arsenal’s summer was dominated by talk of a search for an elite forward, and the left wing was one of the positions on the list. Pursuits of Vinicius Jr and Julian Alvarez did not end in a deal.

The only addition on that flank was Christos Tzolis, who arrived to replace the departed Leandro Trossard and has been Arteta’s first-choice winger. That left Madueke and Eberechi Eze with most of their minutes off the bench or in the Carabao Cup.

Tzolis is now out with a hamstring injury picked up on international duty with Greece. Madueke made the most of the opening, and Arteta praised him as the best player at the club over the international break. Against Leeds, the manager said, he “grabbed it” with both hands. On Tuesday he started on the right wing, his more natural side, in the Champions League win over Lille and set up the opening goal.

“He is a player that doesn’t really mind left or right, but he has played many more minutes on the right side,” Arteta said. “The team needs him there at the moment and he is doing well.”

The Finishers Keep Delivering

Arteta calls his substitutes “finishers”, and the label is working. From the start of last season, Arsenal substitutes have contributed to 26 Premier League goals, more than any other side. Bruno Guimaraes scored the winner off the bench against Leeds, and Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and captain Martin Odegaard all had a hand in the late goals against Lille.

Arteta is not worried that his team lean too heavily on the bench. “There have been other games as well that we have had to score in the first half,” he said. “We have played 11 competitive matches and we won 10.” At Forest, he expected few chances early on and believed that once the physical level dropped, “the spaces would be a little bit bigger”.

Madueke has two goals this season. Last term he scored eight goals and provided four assists in 43 appearances as Arsenal won their first Premier League title in 22 years and reached the Champions League final. England manager Thomas Tuchel and his staff also rate him as one of the best one-against-one players.

The fans who signed a petition against him now see a winger who scores late goals, wins praise from his manager and is loved in the dressing room. The next question is whether Arteta will keep him in the starting line-up when Tzolis is fit again.