In the end, Declan Rice’s goal deep into stoppage time gave Arsenal the lead and minutes later Gabriel Jesus scored the third to guarantee the three points.
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Arsenal registered a victory in the most thrilling way a club can achieve when they overcame rivals Manchester United deep into stoppage time. The Gunners found themselves trailing to a brilliant Marcus Rashford strike in the first half following a quick counter-attacking move, which came completely against the run of play. But Arsenal responded instantly with Martin Odegaard scoring the equaliser in the other end.
The second half was filled with action-packed moments, as both sides had chances to win. In the end, Declan Rice’s goal deep into stoppage time gave Arsenal the lead and minutes later Gabriel Jesus scored the third to guarantee the three points against Manchester United in the Premier League contest. Speaking about the goal, Rice, quoted by Arsenal.com, said after the match, “To score and feel the stadium erupt with the sigh of relief that we got the three points from such a massive fixture, it’s incredible and what we play football for.”
The English international was also happy with the spirit and mentality shown by the players to bounce back from an early setback. “To bounce back and show that fight and spirit and hunger with such a young team, you can see the mentality in the squad that we’ll never give up. Mindset, mentality, energy. We’re creating the chances but just not finishing them off at the moment. It will come and the manager is on us to keep improving every day. We’re eager and hungry to learn and this squad is capable of doing good things,” he explained.
Even though Arsenal got caught to a Marcus Rashford goal in a counter-attack in the first half, Rice believed the team stuck to what they knew and kept knocking on the door for the three points. “When we play such attacking football and want to win the ball high up the pitch, sometimes you’ll get caught on the counter-attack. We stuck to what we know, kept probing and pushing the door and in the end it paid off. There’s a real change in the feeling with the fans who are constantly with us and I’m sure they’ll be buzzing with that moment,” he elaborated.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale also showered praise on Rice for scoring the all-important second goal in the match. “He hasn’t stopped smiling! I’ve just been asked in a different interview if it’ll take the pressure off his shoulders, but I’m not too sure if he feels any pressure. It’s great that he’s got a goal so early on, we want him to score more, we want him to be in a position to shoot and score; he probably should have scored in the first half with a header. And you can see what he does going backwards,” he stated.
He added: “So, again four games into his Arsenal career, if he has more time with us, we’ll have more time with him, and you’ll see a completely different Declan Rice from now until the end of the season. For him, it’s top. The celebrations were crazy, and we just sung Rice Rice Baby. Honestly, it was a strange afternoon. I never thought I’d hear Rice Rice Baby in a football stadium with a bunch of 30 people ranging from 40-year-olds to 18-year-olds dancing around, but that’s football and that’s what we love!”
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