James Maddison jokes Arsenal's Bukayo Saka was still doing his celebration when he 'turned him for first goal'

James Maddison has joked that Bukayo Saka must have still been copying his celebration when he turned him to score for Tottenham against Arsenal in the north London derby.

Saka helped put Arsenal ahead at the Emirates when his shot deflected in off Cristian Romero. He then celebrated the goal by mimicking England team-mate Maddison’s darts celebration.

But just 16 minutes later, Maddison turned Saka on the left side and crossed for Heung-Min Son to level the score.

Asked after the 2-2 draw about Saka borrowing his celebration, Maddison told SpursPlay: “Me and Bukayo had a bit of banter and a bit of trash-talking if you like on international duty.

“I got told he did the dart celebration and he must have still been doing it when I turned him for the first goal.”

He also later added to Sky Sports: “His action was terrible though, wasn't it?!"

Maddison got another assist for the second goal as he again set up Son to score.

The draw saw both sides continue their unbeaten starts to the Premier League season.

Spurs’ start has arguably been more impressive considering they are working under a new manager, Ange Postecoglou, and sold the club’s all-time top scorer Harry Kane in the summer.

Maddison thinks the team are going the right way to shedding their ‘Spursy’ tag.

“We’re not in there celebrating a point, I think there was a few little moments at the end, especially in the dying minutes, where we could have maybe won it from a set-piece,” Maddison is quoted as saying by talkSPORT.

“I think winning late last week and coming back twice, when you hear fans and neutrals talk about Tottenham they often say, ‘soft, weak, they’ll bottle it, Spursy’, all that rubbish. I think the last couple of weeks show that we might be going in a slightly different direction.

“We scored in the 98th and 101st minute against Sheffield United to win late on when it looked like it was going to be one of those days.

“Here we go behind twice at arguably one of the best teams in the world, we pull it back and we’re still fighting right until the end. Hopefully, we can continue that.”

Spurs face another test of their credentials next weekend as they host unbeaten Liverpool.

“I was really proud of how courageous the lads were and how brave we were,” added Maddison, who has been key to Spurs’ strong start after signing from Leicester in the summer.

“There were a couple of occasions in the first half, myself included, where we gave the ball away. I gave the ball away edge of the box, they nearly scored and it is so easy to sink and not carry on playing the way the manager wants us to play, but that’s what bravery is.

“It is having big b**** to take the ball under pressure. I gave it away but the manager makes me feel so good that I can get it again, and if I give it away, it’s okay because that’s how he wants us to play.

“He won’t be cheering if I keep giving it away on the edge of the box, but it was only once and once was enough to remind me to be a bit quicker because these derby games are a rapid pace.

“After that, I thought we passed the ball really well and had spells where we dominated.”

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