Noni Madueke appeared to suffer an injury during the second half of Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on the final day of the season.
Noni Madueke has broken his silence after appearing to suffer an injury during Arsenal’s 2-1 victory against Crystal Palace. The 24-year-old winger, who doubled the Gunners’ advantage at Selhurst Park on Sunday evening, was forced to come off towards the end of the second half.
As Madueke made way for Viktor Gyokeres, he was spotted clutching his left hamstring. Shortly after the England international came off, Jean-Philippe Mateta pulled one back in the final minutes, and the Eagles looked set to mount a late comeback.
Yeremy Pino thought he had equalised for Crystal Palace in the dying embers of stoppage time, but his strike was chalked off by the Video Assistant Referee. Arsenal held onto their lead, ending the campaign with a win.
Despite having suffered a knock, Madueke joined his teammates for the trophy lift in front of the travelling support. Fortunately for Arteta, who must now begin preparations for the UEFA Champions League final, the former Chelsea winger didn’t appear to be troubled by the potential problem.
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After the game, Madueke took to social media. First, taking a dig at those who may have doubted him or the team, he began by uploading a video of himself and Eberechi Eze to his Instagram story, which he captioned: “Just shut up, just shut up, just shut up!”
Then, Madueke uploaded a selfie with Bukayo Saka, also to his Instagram story. Together, the Arsenal duo gestured tears with their index fingers, posing with their tongues out.
Shortly after full-time, Arteta relished the chance to ‘create history’. Speaking to Sky Sports, the Spaniard said: “You raise your level because you have opposition who are constantly asking that question of you.
“In my opinion, we had the best team in the history of this competition, pushing us. In Pep, by far, he is the best manager in the world. To do it with those circumstances and in the manner we did it, it is all about the we in this team. I loved every minute of it.”
Arteta added: “This shirt represents something else. Now we have the opportunity to create new history in our club. I am convinced we are going to do it.”
On Saturday, May 30, Arsenal will look to win Europe’s elite competition for the first time in their history when they face Paris Saint-Germain at the Puskas Arena. Madueke was looking forward to getting the job done in Budapest, Hungary.
At the end of last year, he raised eyebrows when he insisted that Arsenal could win the Premier League and the Champions League. Speaking to TNT Sports, Madueke said: “We’re fighting on all fronts. I feel like we can win this competition and win the league; that has to be the aim. We’re in a good place at the moment.”
Madueke added: “We’re tight, that’s the main thing. We want each other to do well; we know there are loads of minutes for all of us. It’s about all of us as a collective; we know we all have a part to play. That’s the good thing about this team.”
