Noni Madueke may not have the starting role he wants at Arsenal, but his winning goal against Nottingham Forest showed why he is one of Mikel Arteta’s valued “finishers”.
The England international scored in the second half to earn Arsenal a 1-0 result and three valuable points towards their defence of the Premier League title.
Madueke has started just one top-flight game this season, the 2-1 win over Leeds that came eight days prior to their victory over Oliver Glasner’s Forest on Sunday.
Arsenal’s summer was dominated by talk of their search for an elite forward, with the left wing one of the positions identified.
But after unsuccessful pursuits of superstar players such as Vinicius Jr and Julian Alvarez, the only new addition in that position was Christos Tzolis, the winger brought in to replace the outgoing Leandro Trossard.
Tzolis has started the season well and has been the first-choice winger for Arteta, meaning that Madueke and Eberechi Eze have had to be content with the majority of their minutes coming from the bench or in the Carabao Cup.
However, Tzolis is now out with a hamstring injury picked up while playing for Greece, and that has presented a chance for Madueke to show Arteta why he should be considering the former Chelsea man as much more than a finisher – the term Arteta uses for his substitutes.
Madueke did well when starting against Leeds, praised by Arteta for being the best player at the club during the international break. The Arsenal boss said the winger “grabbed it [his start] with both hands”.
The England international also started on the right wing, his more natural position, against Lille in a Champions League win on Tuesday, assisting the opening goal.
Against Forest on Sunday, Madueke was introduced at half-time by Arteta and said he took the manager’s instructions with him on to the pitch.
“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,” Madueke said.
He scored with a deflected shot in the 80th minute when he took on defender Daniel Munoz and cut in on 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.