24-year-old Arsenal star now admits one recent decision left him ‘gutted’

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal star Declan Rice has admitted his disappointment at seeing his recent England goal chalked off.

Declan Rice is currently on international duty with the Three Lions, and the Arsenal man thought he’d bagged a spectacular strike against Malta on Friday.

The 24-year-old was introduced as a second half substitute at Wembley Stadium, as Gareth Southgate’s side struggled to find their fluency. Rice quickly made what looked to be a decisive impact, finding the back of the net from range with a well-placed effort.

However, his celebrations were cut short, as Harry Kane was adjudged to have been stood in an offside position, blocking the Maltese goalkeeper’s view of the shot from Rice.

With the goal ruled out, Rice remains with a tally of three goals from his 47 senior international outings.

Discussing his frustration with the decision, Rice recently said, “to be honest with you, going back to the other night I was gutted. When I picked the ball up and drove through and bent one into the far corner, I was buzzing because I don’t really score goals like that often. When it was chalked off I was gutted, but it was one of those where I didn’t want to get into something with the ref, get a silly yellow card,” as quoted by Yahoo Sports.

Declan Rice becoming more complete at Arsenal

At club level, the midfielder has shown this season that he has an eye for goal. Since arriving for a club-record fee of £105 million in the recent summer transfer window, Rice has already found the back of the net twice for Arsenal. 

Both of his goals for the north London club have come in vital moments, too. His first was a 96th minute winner against Manchester United, which sent the Emirates Stadium into raptures. Then, he scored the goal which sparked the Gunners’ dramatic comeback against Chelsea, having trailed 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Mikel Arteta has shown a willingness to deploy Rice in more advanced areas of the pitch so far this season. 

Often, the former West Ham United man has been used as a left-eight, allowing him to impact the match in the final third. Rice has the skillset required to shine in this role. His physicality and running power ought to allow him to dominate opponents and exploit space to his advantage. Arteta will be hoping to see Rice make goalscoring a more regular part of his game in the near future.

Rice has already been a revelation since joining Arsenal. Not only has he shone on the pitch, but he has clearly impressed behind the scenes too, as Arteta has tipped Rice to be a future Arsenal captain. If he could add goals to his game on a more regular basis, he would have to be considered one of the most complete midfielders in the Premier League.