Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has been praised for his goal-line clearance against Brentford at the weekend, as he did brilliantly to get back and spare Aaron Ramsdale’s blushes.
The Arsenal goalkeeper made a huge error with trying to pass the ball out from the back, but Rice was quick to position himself on the line and keep the shot on goal out.
This proved a crucial intervention by Rice, who put in another superb display to help the Gunners pick up all three points and go top of the Premier League table.
The England international has been world class since joining Arsenal from West Ham United over the summer, and fans will be thrilled to see him earning this high praise as the season goes on.
There will have been one or two eyebrows raised about the price tag when Rice first moved to the Emirates Stadium, but that’s clearly not the case now.
“Mikel Arteta can whittle on all he likes about keeping a clean sheet and the professionalism of his team’s performance against Brentford but Arsenal got away with this win,” Crooks wrote in his team of the week column for BBC Sport.
“The way Declan Rice spotted that Aaron Ramsdale was in some difficulty, got behind his goalkeeper and positioned himself perfectly to clear the ball off the line was pure genius. Rice is proving to be as influential as Martin Odegaard proved to be for the Gunners last season.”