Declan Rice hailed an “important win” for Arsenal as they bounced back from their weekend disappointment with a comfortable 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb.
The Gunners lost ground in the Premier League title race on Saturday after being held to a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa after trailing 2-0 at the Emirates.
However, Mikel Arteta's side responded four days later with an impressive performance against Dinamo in the Champions League.
Rice scored his first goal in the competition, while further strikes from Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard brought Arsenal within a point of automatic qualification for the round of 16.
“It was an important win tonight,” he told TNT Sports. “We have to keep winning games. I think the game is this weekend [against Aston Villa was] a real kick in the teeth. We would have to wait and see, but bounce back and win tonight [was crucial].
'It's been a tough month, but [we must] stay positive and we'll go again.
“It's been a very positive Champions League campaign so we have one more [game against Girona] to go now. Hopefully we can win that too.”
The difference makerspic.twitter.com/D2CkpzBfGL
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 22, 2025
Rice and Odegaard's goals put the midfielders in the right places at the right times after making late runs into the penalty area.
And the England international stressed the importance of contributing to goals from the middle of the park.
“The manager has been very hard on us about bringing in midfielders because so many goals can come from that,” he added. “It's up to us to make up for those extra five, ten meters.
“Martin [Odegaard] Obviously I did it at the end, I did it for the header [that went wide]so we have to keep getting there. Everyone is doing their part.”
Odegaard agreed: “[Arteta’s] we're always pushing to get better, and we want goals from the midfielders, and I haven't been good enough there this season. We've talked a lot about being in the right areas to attack that space.
'We needed that [win]. We have now put ourselves in a very good situation. It was a good and solid win, so I'm very happy.”
“Everyone just wants to get better. Every time we drop points, everyone comes in the next day even hungrier and even more ready to go again. I think that's the mentality, we always have to be better, and that's good to do.” to see.”
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