Arsenal's Noni Madueke accuses Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister of trying to ‘bait’ him into Anfield red card

Noni Madueke accused Alexis Mac Allister of trying to ”bait” him into a red card during Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Liverpool. Mac Allister went down holding his face after his forehead made contact with Madueke’s during the second half of The Gunners’ first Anfield win in 14 years.

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The confrontation came after Mac Allister was fouled by Martin Odegaard before he slapped the Arsenal captain on the back of the head as he walked away.

VAR reviewed the incident between Mac Allister and Madueke, but the Arsenal winger escaped a red card, while the Liverpool midfielder was booked.

"To be honest, I don't think it's anything,” Madueke told ViaPlay. ”Whether it's a yellow or red card, the referee didn't think that. VAR didn't think that. So we all agreed there.

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"It's a natural movement and he [Mac Allister] is obviously clever. He tried to bait me into getting a red card there.

"In my head, I'll be very honest with you guys, in my head I was thinking: 'It's possible, you know, with VAR'.

”It's about whoever interprets it. I don't know what they're thinking. But thankfully it wasn't."

Arsenal’s victory, courtesy of a first-half Kai Havertz goal, was their first at Anfield since 2012, when Mikel Arteta was Arsenal skipper.

The Gunners had 16 unsuccessful trips across all competitions at Liverpool before Sunday’s win.

"Extremely proud. It's been 14 years, that's a long time," Arteta said after the game. "I'm sure we made everybody attached to the club extremely proud today.

"Not only for the victory but for the way we've done it, the spirit we've shown. Especially considering what happened four days ago when you lose and go out of the cup against a team you are supposed to beat.

"That's the magical part of this game, it can take you to really bad places but four days later you have the opportunity to do something really historic and we've done it.

"Overall, to win against a team that is producing what they are doing, and also in the emotional state after Fleetwood, that's what a winning team should do."

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