Tag: Rice

Copy and paste from Tuesday night. Arsenal struggle to create much all game and then Martinelli saves them off the bench. “But was Mikel Arteta’s line-up just too pragmatic, especially after seeing City drop so deep?  “Merino and Rice once again failed to produce much in midfield. Could Eze – brought on at half-time – have started that game? And what would have happened had he did?” Rice: Martinelli always delivers big moments Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice:  “Since I’ve come to the club, even before I’ve come – he’s always delivered in big moments. The amount of times he’s scoring in big games for us.  “A lot of players can talk if they get put on the bench but every time he comes in, he shows his desire.  “The run and finish – it’s unbelievable at that stage of the game. To have that composure, he really deserves it.” For the second time in five days, Arsenal’s substitutes – or finishers, as Mikel Arteta likes to call them – make the decisive impact. The Gunners were staring at defeat but a huge goal from Martinelli ensures the gap to Liverpool is five points, not six. It’s a hugely frustrating end for City, who defended brilliantly for 93 minutes. Guardiola shrugs his shoulders – he decided 25-30 minutes out from the end of the game how he was going to win it and he got so close. “But credit to Arsenal, Eze and Martinelli for that bit of brilliance at the end, but those blue shirts will be disappointed. “It was a bit of a slugfest of a game, a real struggle that will not help either of them and Liverpool maybe the winners.”