Declan Rice was the star of the game as Arsenal claimed a dramatic 3-1 win over Manchester United just before the international break. In a game that was full of controversy and much drama, Marcus Rashford opened the scoring against the run of play, but it took Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard only 110 seconds to level matters.
With the game looking like it was heading towards a tie, Alejandro Garnacho thought he had put United up again but VAR ruled out the goal under the most controversial circumstances.
Deep into extra time, Arsenal new boy Declan Rice grabbed his first goal for the Gunners in dramatic fashion before Gabriel Jesus put the icing on the cake with a composed finish after a brilliant run.
Rice was quick to hail his side’s mentality, pointing that taking the club to another level is exactly what he came to do.
Rice hails incredible win over Manchester United
Speaking after the game, Rice said: “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”.
“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,” he said.
“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.
“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.”
Victory for Arsenal will prove as an early statement for the Gunners going into the international break. Mikel Arteta’s men currently lie in fifth place, two points behind reigning champions Manchester City and are one of the six sides to remain unbeaten so far.
Post-international break, Arsenal will take on Everton in the Premier League before their first Champions League appearance in seven years in what is an highly-anticipated fixture against Dutch side PSV.
