It took a lot of digging deep and a bold mentality, but Arsenal managed to overcome their many challenges to secure a huge win over Wolves in the Premier League.
The Gunners were reduced to ten men in the first half as Myles Lewis-Skelly received a red card from Michael Oliver for a bizarre call.
The Arsenal defender seemingly tripped up a Wolves player in a petulant challenge to stop a counter-attack, but it was deemed as serious foul play due to where contact was made.
It only mounted the challenge that the North Londoners faced, though that was soon to be evened out by Oliver, who sent off Joao Gomes for the hosts for a second bookable offence.
Fortunately for Arsenal, they took the lead shortly after as Riccardo Calafiori made a huge impact from the bench.
It marked three points for the side and a first with Gabriel Magalhaes as captain, though one star perhaps offered his own credentials to hold the armband one day.
Declan Rice showed Arsenal captaincy credentials vs Wolves
With Martin Odegaard missing out through illness, there was an opportunity for some other Arsenal stars to pick up the captaincy and take charge of proceedings for the side against Wolves.
That was handed to Gabriel Magalhaes, who has been a giant for the Gunners at the back both figuratively and metaphorically.
The Brazilian put in another big display, but wasn’t the only one to show off his captaincy credentials at Molineux.
There was also Declan Rice, who put in a huge display for the side with some key moments throughout the match.
One of those that perhaps wasn’t spotted was his role in getting the team raring to go for the second half.
Plenty of belief from the Arsenal players appeared to begin with Rice’s team talk, as shown by Adam Keys on social media.
Rice stepped up to the plate to help lead the team, with his performance on the pitch, overall standards and his actions.
The midfielder has been a captain before, taking charge of his old team West Ham before joining Arsenal.
All of that experience from a young age came out then, which was shown in the side’s resurgence into the lead.
- READ MORE: Can Arsenal appeal Myles Lewis-Skelly red card? Rules explained after baffling referee and VAR call
Arsenal have leaders across the whole squad
If there’s one thing that Arsenal have built well in recent years, it’s the number of leaders they have in the dressing room and on the pitch.
Players take accountability for good and bad performances, regardless of if they are the ones wearing the armband or not.
It perhaps started with the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Odegaard joining the team and raising the standards.
Bukayo Saka’s growth has seen him slip into a leadership role, while similar can be said of Gabriel and William Saliba at the back.
The introduction of Rice has only strengthened that core of players who want to take on that responsibility and as a result, the side is better for it.
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