James Maddison hits back at Roy Keane criticism: ‘I hope there were certain people who enjoyed me being the match winner’ | OneFootball

James Maddison says he hopes there were “a certain few people who enjoyed” him being the match winner against Man Utd, following public criticism from Roy Keane this week.

Maddison scored the only goal of the game in the first half as Spurs beat Man Utd 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It followed criticism from former Man Utd midfielder Keane on The Overlap podcast this week, who questioned Maddison’s quality.

“People say Maddison’s the man. When is he going to step up to the plate?” Keane said.

“He got relegated with Leicester and he’ll get relegated with Spurs.

“Maddison isn’t bad when he’s not at the darts, but let me tell you, if you think he’s going to come back and get Spurs into the top six, you’re in cuckoo land.”

Maddison returned to the Spurs 11 following a spell out with injury and performed a shushing celebration to the camera after scoring, an apparent response to Keane.

And discussing that celebration, Maddison told Sky Sports: “There was a little bit of outside noise this week. People will have their opinions but I wanted to do my talking on the pitch today.

“I hope there are a certain few who enjoyed me being the match winner today.

“Nobody is more critical of me than myself. To be fair to the the gaffer he always talks about blocking out the outside noise but sometimes it’s difficult. He prefers when we are in our own bubble but it’s difficult because it’s constantly in your face these days.

“On social media, WhatsApp, people are sending you stuff. You see this stuff, especially when it’s a big profile name. But it’s responding in the right way and I did that today, like I said I was the match winner so I’m really delighted.”