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DECLAN RICE REACHES NEW CAREER MILESTONE WITH HISTORIC FIRST PREMIER LEAGUE BRACE
Mikel Arteta labels Declan Rice "world class" after his first career brace inspires Arsenal to a thrilling 3-2 win at Bournemouth.
Mikel Arteta didn’t hold back after Declan Rice’s heroic performance against Bournemouth, calling him one of the world’s best midfielders. Rice scored twice in the second half and helped Arsenal pull off a gutsy 3-2 comeback win.
Arsenal made things tough for themselves early on at the Vitality. Gabriel’s shaky pass set up Evanilson to put Bournemouth ahead just ten minutes in. But Gabriel made up for it soon after, grabbing the equaliser six minutes later.
Rice missed Arsenal’s last match against Aston Villa because of a knee injury, but he came back swinging. Nine minutes into the second half, he scored his first goal. Then, twenty minutes later, he added another—his first ever Premier League brace, and it only took him 296 appearances to get there.
He’s been a real standout for Arteta’s side this season, and that’s saying something with the way Arsenal has been playing. When someone asked if Rice now belongs among the world’s elite midfielders, Arteta didn’t hesitate. “For me, yes,” he said.
“Declan keeps adding new things to his game, and he’s always pushing to get better. I don’t see him stopping any time soon—he still has things to improve, and he’s hungry to do it.
“He was gutted not to play against Villa. He tried in the morning, but it just wasn’t happening. He wanted to train the next day, but we had to say no.
“Even today, right up to the last minute, I asked him how he felt, and he just said, ‘I’m in.’ And he really was.
“He does everything you ask, every day, and that’s what sets him apart. He’s got the talent, but more than that, he’s consistent. That’s why you see performances like today.”
This win makes it five in a row for Arsenal, stretching their lead at the top—six points clear of Aston Villa and seven ahead of Manchester City, who play Chelsea next.
Arteta also gave Gabriel some credit for bouncing back after his early mistake. “What Gabriel did after giving away that goal—the way he responded and the energy he brought after—was just remarkable. It’s not easy to recover mentally when there’s so much on the line, so I’m really impressed.”
Bournemouth, on the other hand, has hit a rough patch. They started in November flying high, but now they haven’t won in 11 matches. That’s their worst run ever in the Premier League, and they’re only three spots above the drop zone.
To make things worse for Bournemouth, they look set to lose their top scorer, Antoine Semenyo, this month—he played the full 90 minutes, but he’s rumoured to be heading to one of Arsenal’s title rivals, Manchester City.
Still, when asked if Semenyo will be around for their next match against Tottenham, manager Andoni Iraola said, “Yes, I expect him to play. Nothing’s changed. There’s a lot of noise, but that’s how it is.
“I actually thought we played better than Arsenal in the first half. It was close, but they found a way to win. That just shows we’re not making the most of our chances.”
ARTETA DEFIANT: ARSENAL BOSS SLAMS "BOTTLER" TALK AHEAD OF CRUCIAL NORTH LONDON DERBY
Mikel Arteta stays calm! Discover the latest on Ødegaard’s injury, the Wolves xG shock, and Arsenal’s North London Derby plan.
Mikel Arteta’s message to his players is simple: stay calm, keep your heads, and just get on with it. The pressure’s cranked up; Arsenal haven’t won the Premier League in 22 years, and everyone knows it.
Wednesday night didn’t help. Arsenal let a two-goal lead slip against Wolves, who are dead last. That handed Manchester City a chance to take control of the title race. If City win their last 12 games, including that huge clash with Arsenal at the Etihad in April, they’ll be champions. It’s that straightforward.
Even so, Arsenal are still five points clear at the top. Sure, they’ve played one more match than City, but they’re leading. You can feel the baggage, though. Three seasons as runners-up leave their mark, and after the 2-2 draw at Wolves and just two wins in their last seven league games, the “bottlers” tag is getting thrown around again.
Arteta isn’t buying into that. Ahead of Sunday’s trip to Tottenham, he shrugged off the noise. “The media’s tough. Everyone has their own opinion, and everyone thinks they’re right,” he said.
“If we all had our own personal record of what we expected from this season, I bet it’d be interesting to look back and see what you thought would happen three, five, or eight months ago. Probably not this.”
He’s trying to keep things in perspective. “We know what we need to do. We have to live in the moment, and honestly, it’s a good place to be. We’re exactly where we want to be in every competition. So I’m staying calm, eyes open, ears open, just figuring out what the players need to perform.”
Arteta even quoted Wolves manager Rob Edwards, who told him straight up both in the press conference and by text that Arsenal are the best team in the league, “by far".
It’s not just talk. Arsenal are heading to the Carabao Cup final next month, they breezed through their Champions League group with eight wins out of eight, and they’re favourites to reach the FA Cup quarterfinals, with a winnable tie at Mansfield coming up.
Arteta likes what he’s seen from his squad. “Their reaction’s been fantastic, and honestly, I’m not surprised. When you drop points in the last seconds, especially in such a freak way, Wolves had a 0.02 xG chance and still scored. Nobody can really explain that. But that’s football. It hurts; it’s a gut punch, but then you have to move on and ask, 'Now what?’”
“That was just chapter 27. What matters is the next one. How do we bounce back? How do we decide our own story from here?”
There’s some good news on the injury front, too. Martin Ødegaard and Kai Havertz both missed the Wolves match, but they could be back for the showdown with Spurs. “We’ll see tomorrow, but there’s a good chance they’ll be ready,” Arteta said.
THE £127M FLOP: WHY EBERECHI EZE AND VIKTOR GYOKERES ARE FAILING TO JUSTIFY THEIR MASSIVE FEES
Arsenal title race crisis: Discover why the £127M duo Eze and Gyokeres are failing to deliver after the 2-2 draw against Wolves.
Arsenal’s push for the Premier League title hit another snag last night. They could only manage a 2-2 draw against Wolves, who are stuck at the bottom of the table. That result leaves Arsenal just five points ahead of Manchester City. City still has a game in hand too, which makes things even more tense at the top.
There’s still the trip to the Etihad coming up, and let’s be real, that match could decide everything. Arsenal fans are in for a stressful finish, no doubt about it.
One player who just hasn’t lived up to the hype is Viktor Gyokeres. Since joining Sporting CP for around £60 million last summer, he’s barely made a dent. The numbers say it all: 13 goals in 35 appearances. For a guy who scored 54 goals in all competitions the year before, that’s a huge letdown. He hasn’t found the net in his last three games, and it’s not just about goals; his overall game looks off.
Gyokeres’s passing has been shaky, with just 61% of his passes finding a teammate. That’s among the worst in the league for forwards. And when he tries to take players on, it’s not much better; he’s only completed 18% of his dribbles, which puts him near the bottom again.
Honestly, it’s starting to feel like déjà vu for Arsenal. Remember Nicolas Pepe? The club spent £72 million on him in 2019. He arrived with massive expectations and ended up leaving on a free in 2023 after never really delivering. Gyokeres is starting to look like another expensive gamble that just hasn’t paid off.
And then there’s Eberechi Eze. Arsenal splashed out £67 million for him, hoping he’d be the creative spark in midfield. He gave fans a moment to remember with a hat-trick in the North London Derby, but aside from that, he’s faded badly. Since mid-December, Eze has started only two league games. Last week against Brentford, he didn’t even make it to halftime. Last night at Molineux, Arteta didn’t even trust him to start, instead moving Saka into the number ten role. Eze came on for just 25 minutes, touched the ball 15 times, and only once in the opposition’s box. He didn’t create any chances either.
Between Eze and Gyokeres, Arsenal spent a huge £127.5 million last summer. Both have fallen way short of expectations. Eze, especially, looks like he’s on the verge of becoming another big-money flop at the Emirates. Fans expected a lot more. Right now, they’re just not getting it.
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