Declan Rice sends 6-word message to Arsenal ‘brother’ after rare achievement

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Declan Rice has sent a message to Arsenal teammate Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Following Arsenal’s 3-1 win against Burnley at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Declan Rice took to Instagram to send a message to Oleksandr Zinchenko, saying, “what a goal my brother. Deserved.”

Zinchenko does not score many goals. In fact, in 114 Premier League appearances, across his spells with Manchester City and Arsenal, the Ukrainian has only found the back of the net twice.

His rare strike against Burnley was worth waiting for, though. Zinchenko netted in the 74th minute, producing an acrobatic scissor kick to volley the ball into the top corner. The strike killed the game, sealing all three points for the north London club.

It was also a well-deserved reward for Zinchenko, who had produced an excellent all-round performance. As per WhoScored statistics, the 26-year-old touched the ball 117 times – more than any other player on the pitch – made five tackles, won seven aerial duels, and completed 95 passes, including seven long balls.

Oleksandr Zinchenko bounces back from difficult spell

In the weeks prior to this match, Zinchenko had not been in the best form. Takehiro Tomiyasu was threatening to usurp him in the pecking order for the left-back role.

However, the 57-cap Ukraine international produced a timely reminder of his quality with this performance.

Mikel Arteta likely did not need any such reminders. He has used Zinchenko to revolutionise the way that the left-back role is performed at Arsenal since bringing him to the club. The former Manchester City man is an inverted full-black, given license to drift infield, bolstering the midfield contingent. 

From there, Zinchenko becomes an auxiliary playmaker, giving the Gunners a numerical and technical advantage in the middle of the park. Left-sided centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes and left winger Gabriel Martinelli have the pace to cover for Zinchenko, should he get caught out of position when Arsenal lose possession.