Arsenal endured yet another tense injury-time this weekend as they scored twice in the additional seven minutes to claim a 4-2 win over Leicester City. The Foxes had come from two goals down to force the Gunners into peppering their goal with a total of 36 shots eventually breaking through the stubborn Mads Hermansen.
Any hope of some nearby rest, however, is not going to materialise for Arsenal as in less than 48 hours they will take on Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. The schedule remains relentless and this is not lost on the players.
Declan Rice has been a prevalent figure and only missed one Premier League game in this and last season because of a red card suspension. He is a key part of Mikel Arteta’s side and is rarely substituted or rotated.
football.london heard from the former West Ham man following the win over Leicester. Asked about the toll on the mental side of the game, the Arsenal talisman gave a very honest answer.
“Mentally it is tough,” he said. “The anxiety is through the roof!
“You know the pressure of playing for Arsenal, you have to win every game. And if you want to win Premier Leagues and cups, compete at the top, you need to be at your best and you need to win – otherwise the pressure mounts.
“So when that second goal went in for them today, one thought is – we can’t lose this game, we have to keep going. At the end it is kind of like a sigh of relief, because we won the game, we deserved to win the game.
“That was probably the most comfortable we have been in the first half all season, in terms of passing the ball, dominating the ball. There are lots of positives to take, but still so much to improve on. As the season goes on, I am sure you are going to keep seeing the best of us.”
Yet a goal and a result can make all the difference to how teams and individual players behave and perform. This was perhaps evident from Rice’s teammate’s goal on the weekend which gave Arsenal a first-half lead.
Following a drought of goal contributions, Gabriel Martinelli has three in his last two games and the opener on Sunday looked as though it lifted a weight from the Brazilian. Rice spoke after Martinelli had missed a big chance at Atalanta last week and spoke of his tenacity and drive.
In the wake of his goal, football.london put the question to Rice regarding the 23-year-old and for his thoughts on his response since the trip to Italy. “A goal, assist, probably two more chances he had, and he works every day in training on these type of chances, these runs, these finishes,” he replied.
“It was only a matter of time before he got back on the scoresheet, so I am delighted for him today.”
Now both will likely combine against PSG on Tuesday night. Certainly one of the tougher games that the Gunners will face in this new-look version of the competition.
“It is a different format now, but we are coming up against probably tougher teams than you normally would in a group-stage format,” Rice said. “We have got more tougher teams now. We have got an exciting night here, which is our second game.
“Usually you would find these games in the quarter-finals or semi-finals, so for it to be our second game is massive. It is a big game because we need to get points on the board in this new format.
“We will be ready and we are excited because we have not played PSG before. They are a top team, so we will be ready for that one.”
