Arsenal closed the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to seven points after comfortably beating Manchester United and star midfielder Declan Rice wants his side to keep the pressure on the Reds
Declan Rice has insisted Arsenal remain in the Premier League title race after cutting Liverpool’s lead from nine to seven points.
The Gunners comfortably beat Manchester United on Wednesday night to close the gap on Arne Slot’s side in the top-flight. Rice delivered the cross from which Jurrien Timber opened the scoring nine minutes into the second-half.
United struggled to get themselves back on level terms, with William Saliba scoring Arsenal’s second with 20 minutes to go. That goal also came from a corner, with Bukayo Saka’s deep cross being played off Saliba and into the net by Thomas Partey.
It was a crucial three points for Mikel Arteta’s men as Liverpool were held to a draw at Newcastle. The Reds remain top, but Gunners star Rice believes his side still have a shot at the title, as long as they remain in touch with their rivals come February.
“Massive. What a night, Manchester United have a new manager so we knew it would be a test. They’ve looked good the last couple of games. You have to believe in your process, we keep at it all the time,” Rice told Amazon Prime.
“We never get bored. We stuck to the game plan and we could’ve had three or four. When you go up for a corner it’s a time to score, not a time to relax and chill.
“To score both of them from corners, [set-piece coach] Nico [Jover] will be buzzing and I’m so happy. It’s more just seeing clips and I know the weight I need to put on the ball and it’s just about repetition. I put a few good balls in and could’ve had a couple of assists so it was nice to get one.
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“Because of the game schedule it’s hard to practise but it’s repetition, more watching clips at the moment. When you have a blip you get written off. We stuck together as a group, we knew the run of results were not good enough, now we’re starting to see a turn of that.
“People get carried away with title talk. You need to be in and around at February time. It’s closer [now Liverpool have dropped two points], they’re seven away but we keep believing in ourselves and see what happens.”
Liverpool boss Arne Slot meanwhile is remaining calm despite Arsenal closing the gap on his side. He admitted to being left frustrated but is backing Mo Salah to fire his men to success.
“I have mixed feelings, we were outstanding in the second half but we were not good enough in the first half. Maybe 3-3 is what the game deserved,” Slot said.
“After the week we had we could change the game which is a very positive thing to take. Every time we need Mo Salah he scores a goal. We are hoping and expecting he can continue this for a long time. He was outstanding in the second half, he did many special things for us.”
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