Neal Maupay admits he was inspired to go and score a late winner against Arsenal out of sheer spite - just so he could rub it in the face of an opponent.
The then-Brighton striker was involved in a collision with Gunners stopper Bernd Leno back in summer 2020 that forced the German to go off with a knee injury.
Leno's Arsenal teammates were none too happy, with Matteo Guendouzi, in particular, sniping at Maupay throughout the rest of the game....only for the Seagulls forward to put away a 95th-minute winner.
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" I was 100 per cent convinced I would score and get into his face and say, ‘You’ve got more money, but we won and I scored'"
That games helped mark the beginning of the end for Guendouzi at Arsenal, with Mikel Arteta dropping the midfielder for the next game and explaining: "Whatever internal issue we have, we deal with it privately."
Maupay told FourFourTwo: "It was a good memory for me, and for the Brighton fans as well. I think it was the first game back after lockdown on a really hot day in June.
"During the game, there was a lot of talking between Dan Burn and some of the Arsenal players.
"Then I had that contact with Bernd Leno when he got injured, and that started to heat things up a little bit.
"That French guy [Guendouzi] was talking about money, how Arsenal is a big club and we were nothing compared to him and Arsenal.
"That’s not the trash talking I like because that's just nonsense.
"So, I kept that in my mind the whole game and I was 100 per cent convinced I would score and get into his face and say, ‘You’ve got more money, but we won and I scored'.
"I scored in virtually the last kick of the game and went straight up to him and said what I thought about him. He showed zero humility and I told everyone in my post-match interview.
"I think if you say stuff like this, you face the consequences, so I wanted to make sure everybody knew what he said."
The interview with Neal was arranged by YRDS.
