Teenage talent James Maddison admits he knew how special his stunning winner for Aberdeen against Rangers was.
The Dons looked set to share the Scottish Premiership spoils with the Gers yesterday until the playmaker stepped up and bent a sublime winner into the top corner at the death. The 30-yard-free kick was hailed as being 'as good as any goal you'll see' by his temporary boss Derek McInnes – and the 19-year-old didn't disagree.
The Norwich City talent, on loan north of the border until January, said: 'It was an unbelievable feeling to score because it's what you dream of in the build up to the game.
'There was a lot of hype around the match and you go through scenarios in your head – well, I do anyway – and one of those was scoring the winning goal late on.
'That's what happened – it was exactly as I planned. I came on to change the game because the first half wasn't good enough.
'It was a tough game to come into because the atmosphere was electric and it was a really quick match. I knew that at 1-1 we might get a chance to win it and we did that with the free-kick. I've never scored a better goal.
'I was always going to take it. Niall McGinn and I have been having banter about free-kicks because we practise them together. But he was off at the time so I didn't have him chirping in my ear wanting to take it.
'Even if he had still been on the pitch at the time, I would still have taken it 100pc. Set pieces are something I work hard at after training and I hit quite a lot every day.
'I'm confident because I've practised a lot, not just here but at Coventry and Norwich. Hopefully it's something I'll master. I wasn't nervous stepping up. I don't get nervous because I have confidence in my ability. I knew I was able to stick it away and thankfully I did.'
The former Coventry City schemer, signed by the Canaries in January, is yet to score a senior goal for Norwich. But he did net in their 6-1 EFL Trophy win at Peterborough and has now scored is successive league games for Aberdeen.
'One of the attractions of coming to Scottish football was to play against the likes of Rangers and Celtic,' Maddison, still speaking to the Daily Record, added.
'This showed me what it was like – Scottish football at its best. I'll be in a for a good time if I keep sticking in winners against Rangers.'
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