Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice says his side could have scored 10 goals against Tottenham in the north London derby.
The Gunners won 2-1 thanks to an own goal from Dominic Solanke and a strike from Leandro Trossard.
This moves Mikel Arteta’s men back to second place, four points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand at the top of the Premier League table.
Speaking after the game, Rice said, “You can tell tonight meant more than anything. From the first minute, the first half was pure dominance. We showed intention, pressure, desire, you could say it was a derby. I think we were probably unlucky not to score 10 tonight. That’s how it feels.
“You don’t need a message. When you play Spurs, you know what it means to the fans. As a player, if you can’t stand up for Spurs then you shouldn’t be playing football. You have to have that fire in your belly.
“In the second half, the game dragged on. They might have scored a couple but we could have got another five or six – that’s a disappointing thing.
“Three points is the most important thing. I hope we can run now because this is the most important part of the season.”
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“We’re unlucky that we probably didn’t score 10 tonight”
Declan Rice reflects on Arsenal’s north London derby win 👀
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Despite Rice’s comments, Arsenal only managed an xG of 1.64, suggesting they were more clinical than wasteful in front of goal.
But they still took the three points and Arteta was a happy man in his post-match interview.
He added: “Outstanding today. From the first minute we were really into it, really intense. We played with the real goal of hurting them. We created an incredible atmosphere.
“We know how important the game is. It is a gift with which we can make the fans happy.
“The attitude with which we played, not feeling sorry for ourselves, was phenomenal. We played 120 minutes three days ago.
“We had great chances and great situations. In the end we had to suffer more than we wanted.
“When you have opportunities [to close the gap] you have to take them. We are on a really consistent run in the Premier League. It’s about recovery tomorrow and Aston Villa on Saturday, it goes and goes.”
