Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League table after beating Wolves 2-0 on Saturday.
It has been a challenging week for Mikel Arteta and his players after their defeat to Aston Villa last week.
Arsenal then followed it up by crashing out of the Champions League when they were beaten by Bayern Munich.
But goals from Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard at Molineux ensured that the Gunners were back on track in the race to become champions of England again.
Given that Manchester City were in FA Cup action on Saturday – 1-0 win over Chelsea – then it allowed the London club to put points on the board and put pressure on their title rivals.
Arsenal are now one point clear and Martin Keown thinks Declan Rice played a huge role in that because he was ‘everywhere’ against Wolves, as he told Premier League Productions (20/04/24 at 9:35 pm).
This is where Arteta needed his big-name players to step up, forget about fatigue, you just have to grind your way to maximum points.
And sitting in the middle of the park, once again alongside Kai Havertz and Odegaard, the big-money summer signing shone and produced a Man of the Match display.
Declan Rice helps Arsenal beat Wolves
“You saw, once they went in front, in the second half it was a totally different Arsenal, they played with real authority,” said Keown.
“I thought Declan Rice was everywhere for the team. Quite brilliant. Sat on his own, with a slightly different structure to the Arsenal midfield and they looked really strong. They didn’t look in any real danger.”
Two London derbies against Chelsea and Tottenham
Well, the games just keep on getting bigger for Arsenal and this forthcoming week will show what the team is all about.
Up first will be Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea after they were beaten in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday.
There is a lot of pressure on Pochettino and Arsenal can’t have any excuses but to claim all three points here – something they failed to do during the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge.
Then it’s the small matter of the north London derby against Tottenham. Ange Postecoglou’s side last played on April 13 and they have had a lot of rest for this game, and you just wonder what type of effect that will have on this fixture.
The post ‘He was everywhere’: Martin Keown says Arsenal 25-year-old was ‘quite brilliant’ after win v Wolves appeared first on HITC.
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