Declan Rice enjoyed the best possible return to West Ham as Arsenal ran out 6-0 winners at the London Stadium on Sunday.
A long-range goal and two assists from Rice saw his performance rated as the best out of any Premier League midfielder this season, in what was Arsenal’s biggest-ever away victory in the competition.
Rice captained West Ham to unexpected glory in the Europa Conference League last season, and was a highly popular player at his former club before his club-record move to Arsenal in the summer.
This did not stop him from receiving boos from the crowd at the London Stadium, but his performance was so magnificent that some did then applaud when he departed the pitch.
Rice chose not to celebrate his goal despite the quality of the strike from over 20 yards out, and this decision has now come under scrutiny.
David Seaman admits surprise over Declan Rice celebration
Speaking on the Seaman Says Podcast, Arsenal legend David Seaman claimed that he found it odd that Rice chose not to celebrate his goal in East London.
What a goal it was not to celebrate!” He stated.
“To see him not celebrate was strange for me, because it was just such a good goal and the icing on the cake on an incredible day for him and the club.
Seaman then praised Arsenal’s display which saw them score six without reply.
“It was a brilliant performance from Arsenal. I actually did an Arsenal VIP tour on the day and as I was going around as the first half had just started, so everybody had got it on their phone. Every table that I went to, all the fans that had come were all saying, ‘it’s one nil, oh, it’s two, it’s three, it’s four.’ It was great!
“I was so happy for Declan because he was getting a lot of stick from West Ham fans. He got a lot of stick at the Emirates recently when they beat Arsenal, so I was so happy for him for turning it around on Sunday.”
Rice’s lack of celebration is understandable
Despite the quality of his goal, and the boos aimed at him by some West Ham fans, it is clear that Rice still has a lot of respect for his old club.
His goal was the cherry on top of the cake as it made the score 6-0. Whilst the away fans in attendance were jubilant, it is not often a goal that is wildly celebrated in the context of the game.
If Rice’s strike was an equaliser or a winner, there may have been a more animated celebration from him, but even then, his respect for West Ham may have meant he was never going to celebrate too loudly after scoring.
There has been plenty of focus on Arsenal over-celebrating in recent weeks, and Rice is now being criticised for not celebrating enough, in what has been a bizarre period of coverage around a team in excellent form right now.
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