Arsenal were 2-0 down thanks to a deserved penalty from Palmer and a very lucky lob from Mudryk, which I am sure was supposed to be a cross to Sterling at the far post, and with just 15 minutes left on the clock, it looked like the Gunners were going to tamely lose our unbeaten record, but our record signing Declan Rice had other ideas.
Sanchez, the Chelsea keeper played a terrible ball out from the back, and Declan Rice was quickest to the ball, and while the keeper was in no-mans land, Rice sent a perfect long-range effort into the empty net, putting us back in the game.
Rice was obviously asked about his amazing effort after the game, and this is how the Englishman explained his thinking: “Everyone’s been talking about this Beckham documentary, and I watched it for the first time last night,” he admitted post-match. “The first couple of clips are the game against Wimbledon where he scored from the halfway line and I took a lot of belief from that.
“I was just thinking that it was bizarre that I watched it last night, and then obviously today taking that shot first time and scoring. It was a special goal to kickstart our comeback, you’ve got to keep shooting – if you shoot, you score!
“In a player’s mind, you get a split second to make a decision. It’s the quickest thing that you have to do; you’ve got to think whether you pass the ball, Leo was free in front of me, or you go for goal yourself. I’ve just watched it back, it was a great finish so I was happy with that.”
I assure you Declan every Arsenal fan watching the game was also very happy with that!
If you missed it, you can watch it on this page……
https://www.justarsenal.com/official-highlights-chelsea-2-2-arsenal-great-comeback-from-the-gunners/351675
Declan Rice effort in my opinion, signify determination and hunger, the ball from Sanchez wasn’t so much a bad ball, but the Chelsea player was on his heels ball watching.
Declan Rice was actually behind the player when the ball was played, it was the former West Ham man anticipation and alertness, that made the difference.
It is not easy to keep fully focus for extended periods of time, this is a remarkable trait and a sure sign Rice, will become a world class player pretty soon.
Talk about damning with faint praise!
Rice, though you seen not to have noticed, has been a world class player for at least two full seasons past and has improved further since joing us.
Brilliant finish!!!!!! If he tried it another 9 times, he probably doesn’t score. It wasn’t easy at all.
That ball from rice had some stew on it. I just loved his belief and anticipation. If he wasted a second longer, The keeper would have recovered
Good mentality among arsenal squad