Brighton striker Neal Maupay has slammed Arsenal players and also spoke about goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s injury, MySportDab reports.
Neal Maupay has revealed he had no plan to injure Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno and slammed the Gunners players for lack of humility.
Maupay secured the winning goal for Brighton deep into stoppage time in a shocking 2-1 victory against Arsenal on Saturday.
Arsenal players surrounded Maupay after the final whistle, and Matteo Guendouzi appeared to grab him.
Maupay collided with goalkeeper Leno and the German fell badly on his right knee.
While being talken off, Leno pointed a finger at Maupay and appeared to shout at the forward.
However, the Brighton forward has claimed his innocence in an interview with BT Sport after the game.
Neal Maupay has a message for Matteo guendouzi… ?pic.twitter.com/YOjYqafTMw
“I apologised to the team and Leno as well. I’ve gone through a bad injury so I know it’s hard but I never meant to hurt anyone.
“The Arsenal players talked a lot in the first half, second half when they scored 1-0 and later they got what they deserved.
“Until the goalkeeper catches the ball you can’t know what will happen. So I just went for the ball.
“I believe it was shoulder to shoulder and he landed badly on twisted his knee.
“This is football, there was contact and I never wanted to injure him.
“So I’m very sorry for him, I apologise and I wish him a quick recovery.”
Nicolas Pepe had given Arsenal the 1-0 lead in the second half with a beautiful left-footed curling goal.
However, Lewis Dunk scored to make it 1-1 for Brighton before Maupay’s late winner in 90+5.
Arsenal now remain 9th on the Premier League table with little hopes of Champions League or Europa League qualification for next season.