Kembali
There was a lot to like about Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Lille in the Champions League.
The Gunners weren’t at their best in the first half, but they blew the French side away in a seven-minute period after the break thanks to goals from Jurrien Timber, Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka.
All three goalscorers, along with players like Martin Odegaard, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ezri Konsa, have received praise, but there were a few players who weren’t up to the mark.
Viktor Gyokeres failed to impress once again, but the French press have had a go at another Arsenal player who they think struggled against Lille.
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Noni Madueke had an interesting game for Arsenal against Lille.
The England international returned to the right wing last night after playing on the opposite side against Leeds United at the weekend. He was great then, and he had his moments on Tuesday too. But the same problems persisted.
Madueke’s end product, for the most part, was once again lacking against Lille, but he did pick up an assist to help Arsenal open the scoring.
As much praise as that deserves, all the French press have mostly been critical of the former Chelsea man after watching his performance on Tuesday night.
GFFN gave him a 4/10 rating and wrote: “The English winger was given the nod ahead of Bukayo Saka, and he barely repaid Mikel Arteta’s faith in him as he missed most of his crosses. Fortunately, he’s heavily involved in Timber’s opener before being hooked and replaced by Saka, who logged two goal contributions from the bench.”
Maxi Foot gave him a 5.5/10 rating and said: “Selected ahead of Saka, the Arsenal winger was too sloppy. And yet, his driving runs caused problems for Perraud and allowed him to make a real impact. However, when it came to the final action, the former Chelsea talent was error-prone and lost possession frequently due to technical lapses. Even so, before coming off, he provided the assist for Timber’s opening goal.”
Finally, So Foot named Madueke as a ‘flop’, rated him 4/10 and said: “If he fired rubber-bullet launchers instead of taking set pieces, he wouldn’t have hit anybody.”
Madueke isn’t the only one under fire from the French media outlets. Viktor Gyokeres has not received any love either.
The Swede got the nod ahead of Kai Havertz again, but he barely had an impact on the game. Yes, his teammates should’ve done better to find him, but he didn’t do much right either.
Foot Mercato rated him 4/10 and wrote: “Struggled to make an impact against a particularly solid Lille defence. Frequently involved in physical battles, he notably lost a crucial duel against Bentaleb in the 28th minute. His first-half performance was far from convincing.”
Maxi Foot also gave him a 4/10 rating and said: “A particularly lacklustre performance from the Arsenal centre-forward. Rarely found by his teammates, the Swede was tightly marked by the Lille defenders during duels. Never receiving the ball in favourable positions, the former Sporting Portugal striker was unable to pose any threat to Özer’s goal.”
So Foot then named Gyokeres as Arsenal’s only other ‘flop’ apart from Madueke, gave him a 2/10 rating and sarcastically commented: “Can’t wait for the matches against Bosnia and Poland in November so this star player can shine!”