Declan Rice did something vs Tottenham which justified his £100m price tag for Arsenal

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Arsenal recorded a superb victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby, and their ingenuity at set-pieces played a huge part.

Two of Arsenal’s three first-half goals came from set-pieces, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scoring an early own goal after Bukayo Saka whipped in a corner, and Kai Havertz adding the third after heading in a delivery from Declan Rice.

Arsenal’s set-pieces have been a major strength for them all season, and set-piece coach Nicolas Jover has been rightfully credited as the man behind their organisation defensively and creative genius in attacking situations.

Rice has been an outstanding signing since his club-record move from West Ham in the summer for an initial fee of £100m, contributing superbly both at the base of midfield and further forward, and his set-piece deliveries have now also been praised.

Simon Jordan praises Declan Rice set-piece deliveries after Arsenal win

Speaking on TalkSPORT (29/04, 10.56AM), pundit Simon Jordan claimed that the accuracy of Rice’s set-piece deliveries shows that the huge fee to bring him in was worth it for Arsenal.

“If you look at those corners that Declan Rice was hitting in, most of the time they were pinged exactly where they should be from a £100 million footballer. That’s what you should be getting,” he stated.

Rice’s delivery was met by Havertz, who headed in with ease to make it 3-0 to Arsenal, but the England star did give away a penalty in the second half which made it a nervy ending at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Declan Rice taking set-pieces has been game-changing for Arsenal

There was some surprise when Rice started taking corners in Arsenal’s 5-0 victory over Crystal Palace in January, given his aerial ability and physical threat, but he walked away from that game with two assists to his name.

With six goals and nine assists this season, he is enjoying his most productive campaign going forward, and a big part of this is down to his ability to whip in accurate corners.

He has formed a strong partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes in this regard, and his incredible deliveries have provided three assists for the Brazilian.

These deliveries have added an extra dimension to his play, as well as Arsenal’s attacking prowess, and he continues to prove why it was the right decision to spend such a significant fee to recruit him.