Noni Madueke earned praise from Mikel Arteta after Arsenal defeated Nottingham Forest 1-0.

The winger wandered inside his marker and hit a strike that was deflected past Matz Sels to break the deadlock at the City Ground. In the end, it was the only goal of the game, and the Gunners got three big points— especially having failed to score at the stadium in their last two Premier League trips.

·‘He’s becoming now decisive’

Madueke has enjoyed a productive period since the international break. Featuring from the left flank, he was the brightest attacker for Arsenal in a 2-1 win over Leeds United. He then assisted the first goal of the game from Jurriën Timber in the 3-0 victory over LOSC Lille before scoring on Sunday.

Despite his critics, Madueke has proven to be a valuable squad member who is well liked internally.

“Noni puts a smile on my face, because he’s a special character. Very much loved in and around the dressing room.

“The way he connects, talks to people, he’s just a special guy. I saw an interview where they were asking a few of our players ‘who would you call if you had a problem?’ and some of them said Noni.

“I was surprised by that! But that’s a massive credit and shows the exact sort of person he is.

“After the break, he’s shown something else - another level of anger and conviction in his actions, and he’s becoming now decisive in matches which is what we expect from our players.

“He’s a player where it doesn’t really matter if he’s on the left or right. He has had a lot more minutes on the right side, but at the moment, the team needs him [on the left] and he has done very well.

“I wanted something else, and we needed a different sort of profile on the left-hand side [instead of Eze.] I’m here to make decisions. A few days ago, he played and scored a goal, and could have had two or three against Lille. He had some really good moments. Today was different because what the game required was different. We felt we had to change it and that’s what happened.”