James Maddison aims dig at Roy Keane after Tottenham goal v Man United
James Maddison has given an instant reply to Roy Keane after opening the scoring for Tottenham against Manchester United on Sunday.
The Englishman returned to action for Spurs against Ruben Amorim’s Man United on 16 February for the first time in 24 days after injury and got off to the perfect start.
The 28-year-old made the most of a spilt save from Andre Onana to smash home and give the home side the lead.
It was the attacking midfielder’s celebration which certainly raised a few eyebrows at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Maddison responds to Keane in Tottenham celebration v Manchester United
Ahead of the clash in North London, former Man United captain Keane took aim at the Lilywhites midfielder ahead of his return.
Ian Wright had backed Maddison to make an impact after his injury on Stick to Football (13 February) and it is safe to say that the Irishman took issue with this.
He said: “He got relegated with Leicester and probably will get relegated with Spurs. Maddison isn’t bad, but if you think he’s going to come back and get Spurs top six, you’re in cuckoo land.”
It appears that this comment reached the Tottenham number 10 who was able to reply in perfect fashion with a strike against the pundits old side.
After driving home the opener in N17, the former Leicester man delivered his famous darts throw celebration before shushing the camera.
It is unclear as to who this was aimed at, but based on these comments from Keane, it is safe to assume it was the 53-year-old who the midfielder had in mind.
Tottenham ace James Maddison offers perfect reply to Roy Keane
There is no doubt that the seven-cap England international is one of Spurs’ best players when he is fully fit and is on top form.
That level has been sparingly seen in recent months but injuries to the former Norwich City man and his teammates in North London have had an impact on this.
With players slowly returning for the Lilywhites, the performance was much improved in the opening stages against the Red Devils with Maddison at the centre of the positivity.
To get on the scoresheet, combined with the celebration, is the perfect response after negative comments from Keane which were truly unneccessary.
It will certainly be interesting to see what the ex-midfielder says after this strike and whether his opinion has changed about the number ten in terms of the impact that he can have as the season goes on.