James Maddison happy with first NLD experience as Tottenham Hotspur hold Arsenal
James Maddison has played against Arsenal several times in his career, but the game on Sunday was his first after joining Tottenham Hotspur this summer.
The former Leicester City playmaker has been our standout performer this campaign. The £40million spent on him is now starting to look like a bargain, which is a huge thing to say because that is not a small amount.
Maddison started the game in poor fashion. There was a moment where he gifted the ball to Gabriel Jesus in defence, but thankfully the Brazilian striker failed to double his team’s lead.
Maddison grew into the game at the Emirates. Amidst a backdrop of a filled stadium with both sets of fans making an extreme level of noise, the 26-year-old did not buckle under pressure.
He laid out two assists, both to Son Heung-min, as Tottenham came back from behind to level the scoreline on two occasions. The second one was arguably the best moment of the match when he robbed the ball from former Chelsea star Jorginho and slid it in for Son to score in the 55th minute.
It came in the minute after Bukayo Saka’s penalty, which added to the emotions and excitement of the away end. Speaking about his first North London derby, he told SpursPlay (h/t club’s official website):
“Just the pace of the game. The pace of the game was top, top level. Those are the games I want to be involved in. Our fans were top drawer, so loud. That created a good dynamic for the game, a proper derby, tackles flying in, bookings, goals, penalties, VAR checks, the lot, all of that.”
This will be a game Maddison will remember for a lifetime. From suffering relegation with Leicester City last season to playing in the biggest domestic games with Spurs, he has come a long way.
This is a Spurs team brimming with talent and expectations are high. Maddison has helped in helping the fans forget Harry Kane left us this summer for Bayern Munich.
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That is the biggest compliment one can give him at this stage of the season. Long may his form continue and hopefully, the injury he suffered against the Gunners isn’t serious.
