Arsenal beat Chelsea in a relatively routine fashion on Sunday afternoon at the Emirates.
The Gunners weren’t at their fluid attacking best against the Blues, but they limited Enzo Maresca’s side to very little throughout the match and deserved the three points.
Mikel Merino scored the winner, diverting a Martin Odegaard corner past Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal.
The result sees Arsenal tighten their grip on second place in the Premier League, moving nine points above their West London counterparts.
Wayne Rooney explains what Declan Rice did to help Arsenal to victory
In the midst of a dull game, there was an interesting tactical ploy from Enzo Maresca that ultimately hindered Chelsea.
The Italian manager instructed Reece James to follow Declan Rice throughout the 90 minutes, and the Arsenal man used this to his team’s advantage.
Explaining how Rice did this on Match of the Day 2, Wayne Rooney broke down the tactical battle.
The former Manchester United striker said: “You look at Reece James and Declan Rice, if you look at it play on here, Reece James is always thinking of Declan Rice, no other thoughts in his head, he’s not even looking at the ball and he vacates the middle of the pitch.
“Declan Rice is very clever with his movement, you can see him telling Partey to come into the space where James should be. [Thomas] Partey comes into the space and receives the ball with no one near him and can turn into the space.
“This was a theme all game.
“If you watch again here, Declan Rice pulls James out wide, and Thomas Partey again comes into the space which Reece James leaves. Now you end up with Chelsea players all over the pitch, Partey gets the ball and turns, gets into the Chelsea back-line.”
Rice essentially used James’ obsession with tracking him to vacate central areas, thus creating space for the likes of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Thomas Partey to move into, helping Arsenal progress the ball up the pitch.
The Englishman did this throughout, with this excellent off-the-ball work a pivotal factor that contributed to Arsenal’s win.
Declan Rice has been Arsenal’s best player in 2025
Rice was dreadful in Arsenal’s defeat to West Ham in February, but that performance is something of an anomaly in the context of his year so far.
The midfielder has been consistently excellent for several months now, dragging the Gunners through some difficult periods.
Physically imposing, astute at pressing and efficient in progressing the ball, he’s been nothing short of exceptional since the turn of the year.
Arteta has asked Rice to take up more advanced positions, and break into the box more regularly with late runs.
This has paid dividends, scoring goals against Dinamo Zagreb, Manchester United and PSV Eindhoven with these late bursts into the danger areas.
If he can keep this form up, he’ll surely be in the conversation for Arsenal’s player of the season award come the end of the campaign.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
