‘He carrying the whole Arsenal on His back,He should be the Captain not Ødegaard’: Ian Wright praises one arsenal Star for liberating Gunners from shameful defeat yesterday
Ian Wright praised Declan Rice for punishing Chelsea during Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.
Mikel Arteta’s side were heading for defeat when they were 2-0 down deep into the second half, before Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez opened the door for the away side.
After getting it all wrong when trying to play out from the back, Declan Rice, from about 25 yards, had an ample chance to put the ball into an empty Chelsea net, but it wasn’t so simple.
The England star curled his effort into the bottom corner, as Ian Wright praised Arsenal’s club-record signing for his ‘brilliant technique’, as he told Premier League Productions (21/10/23 at 7:40 pm).
That’s Declan Rice’s second Premier League goal for the Gunners, after netting the winner against Manchester United, as he showcases his prowess to step up in the big moments.
That was one thing that was previously thrown at the former West Ham United midfielder that he didn’t do enough going forward – Roy Keane was certainly making his feelings clear about it, at the time.
But now that he is playing on a bigger stage, he is stepping up for an Arsenal team still unbeaten after nine Premier League games.
Declan Rice’s goal against Chelsea
“I think it was a brilliant technique,” said Wright. “He had to make sure it was curling away from the keeper and he had a split second to actually execute that.”
Arsenal going strong
During these early stages of the new season, it doesn’t seem that Arsenal are at full pelt or playing at their absolute best yet.
Playing the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea are reasons behind that.
But also the new faces are still settling in and Arteta is starting to mould his team again for a title challenge – they are sitting second in the table, level with leaders Manchester City and one point ahead of Liverpool (BBC Sport).
After all, Arteta has made big changes this season, such as not playing Thomas Partey in his usual position and changing the keeper.