‘I knew you was thinking about me,’ says Luke Littler as James Maddison sends Man Utd fan apology

James Maddison sent Pal Luke Littler an apology of the tongue in the cheek after scoring the winner of Tottenham against the beloved Manchester United of the Darts star.

The midfielder, 28, returned to action after three weeks with a calf injury.

He turned it into a comeback to remember and scored in the 13th minute to earn an important 1-0 win.

After scoring, Maddison carried out his trademark “throw a dart” celebration.

He then made a sister gesture, possibly aimed at Roy Keane after the comments of the Irishman earlier in the week.

After the game, Maddison posted a photo of his darts -celebration of his Instagram story.

He endorsed it: “Sorry son @lukethenukelittler”.

Littler, 18, then posted the image again to his own story and wrote: “I knew you thought of me.”

The friendship of the couple dates from Littler's Run to the World Darts Championship Final as a 16-year-old last year.

After the Warrington Wonderkid reached the quarterfinals, Maddison invited him for a Spurs competition.

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Littler was in the plush box of the English International in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium while Spurs Bournemouth defeated 3-1 in December 2023.

Fourteen days later he met Sir Alex Ferguson and Bruno Fernandes when he attended the 2-2 draw of Man Utd with Tottenham in Old Trafford.

In September, Littler was brutally held by the social media team of Spurs after the North Londoners United had defeated 3-0 at Old Trafford.

They posted a screenshot from Littler after their official account, they wrote: “You finally saw the light @lukethenuke180?”

During the week, Man Utd icon Keane said that Maddison “was relegated with Leicester and he will be relegated with traces”.

After he had the winner and performed a sister celebration, Maddison told Sky Sports: “There was a bit out of noise this week.

“People will have their opinion, but I wanted to do my talk on the field. I hope there are a few who enjoyed the fact that I was the competition winner today.”

Keane had also asked: “People say that Maddison is the man. When will he get on the board?”

Maddison's goal on Sunday was his ninth in 23 Premier League performances this season.

In total he scored 10 and placed on six assists in all competitions during the difficult season of Spurs.