Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that the set piece mastery of Declan Rice had been in the works for some months after it came to life in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, Afrosport reports.
Rice found the back of the net twice with two sublime free kicks that gave Los Blancos goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois no chance of stopping.
Arsenal have had a reputation of scoring from set pieces this season with 21 goals (excluding penalties), the most by any Premier League team.
“He’s [Rice] been very determined because we have talked in the last few months, we haven’t scored a direct free kick since September 2021. Burnley away, Martin Odegaard. So it’s been a long time,” Arteta said.
“So to score two goals in 12 minutes of that magnitude, of that quality from the same player, a player that has never scored a free kick before in his career, I mean what are the odds?
“But he’s done it and I’m a big believer. I think the crowd played something with the energy that they put in and it helped us massively to win the game.”
21 – Arsenal have scored 21 goals from set pieces across all competitions this season (excluding penalties); the most by any Premier League team. Speciality. pic.twitter.com/8h4HWHfz7B
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 8, 2025
Reflecting on the victory, which gave Arsenal the upper hand ahead of the second leg in Madrid next week, Arteta stated: “Obviously very proud. We had a very complete and big performance collectively and you need that in terms of organisation, in terms of what we had to do to dominate the game and to create Madrid problems.
“And then these nights are about the two factors. One is the atmosphere that we created 15 minutes before kick-off, already something I haven’t seen before. So playing with that energy, with that commitment with your crowd makes a huge difference.
“And then magic moments, individual moments that decide football matches and the first two goals of Declan [Rice] I think it sums up the night.”
Before the return leg at the Bernabeu, Arsenal will host fellow London club Brentford at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
