England midfielder’s experience with Arsenal last season taught him the need to be patient against teams unwilling to attack
Declan Rice is reflecting on the pivotal moment of his season so far, the one when plenty of people thought it was about to go wrong for him and Arsenal. It was a narrow and painful defeat for them at Manchester City in mid‑April, which meant the clubs were stride for stride with each other at the top of the Premier League. The momentum was with City. Were Arsenal about to blow it?
The TV cameras picked out Rice on the Etihad Stadium pitch and, as he shook his head, he was easy to lipread. “It’s not done,” the England midfielder said. It was not. Arsenal won all of their remaining league games, finding a way through unbearable levels of tension. City did not and Arsenal were champions for the first time since 2004. “It could have gone either way,” Rice says with a smile. “That would have lived with me for ever.”
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