The midfielder scored Tottenham's opening goal on his first start for the club in over 500 days.
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison has issued an apology to former club Coventry City for the timing of his celebration. The 29-year-old made his first start for Tottenham since his serious knee injury against his hometown club.
He made an immediate impact by blasting the opening goal into the top corner from outside the box. Maddison celebrated by kissing the Tottenham badge, something that has not gone down well with Coventry fans, with some smattering of boos from the away end when he got the ball during the game.
Maddison started his career at his boyhood club, Coventry, and revealed that the celebration was always planned.
Taking to social media, he wrote: "I had already planned my first goal back I was kissing the badge of this club who has supported me and my family through the darkest days of my career over the past 18 months.
"I absolutely adore and love Coventry City. All my close friends and family know that. I’m a fan and always will be and I will 100% apologise to anyone who thought the timing was bad as my first goal back just happened to be against my hometown club.
"Good luck to Frank and the boys for the rest of the season. PUSB."
Alongside the classy message, he shared a picture of himself with friends and family, posing with shirts of some of the Coventry players.
Maddison's goal gave Spurs a lead going into half time, but Coventry drew level just four minutes into the second half through Jack Rudoni. Omar Marmoush's goal regained the lead for Tottenham in the 58th minute.
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Eight minutes of added time did lead to some nerves around the stadium as Spurs looked to hold on for their first win of the season. But those nerves evaporated when Ben Davies made it 3-1 in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The win lifted Tottenham above their opponents in the Premier League table on goal difference. Roberto De Zerbi's side have picked up six points from their opening seven games, and are back in action on Saturday (5.30pm) as they travel to take on London rivals Chelsea.
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday morning, Maddison shared pictures of him scoring the goal, along with a caption reading: "536 days since my last start. That feeling will never get old. Come on you spurs."
Speaking after the game, he revealed that he had doubts about doing his usual darts celebration. "I was a bit nervous before, especially with it being against Coventry," he said. "I had a box full of about 20 people today, all my friends and family, who I don't think will be too happy with me because they're all big Cov fans.
"But it's a special feeling and one I won't forget. They asked me, are you going to celebrate? I was like, I don't know. I would never go over the top and be disrespectful, but obviously it's been such a long journey for me. Especially with a goal like that, I wanted to enjoy it.
"I was almost thinking, shall I do the dart [celebration] or not? I didn't really do it properly. Obviously, I don't want to disrespect my hometown club because I love Coventry City. That club is the reason why I'm here today, but I couldn't help but have an emotional outburst."