Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice says his side could have scored 10 goals against Tottenham in the North London derby.
The Gunners emerged 2-1 victors thanks to an own goal from Dominic Solanke and a strike from Leandro Trossard.
It moves Mikel Arteta’s men back into second, four points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand at the top of the Premier League table.
Speaking after the game, Rice said: “You can tell that tonight meant more than anything. From the first minute, the first half was pure domination. We showed the intent, the pressure, the desire, you could tell it was a derby. I think we were probably unlucky that we didn’t score 10 tonight. That is the feeling.
“You don’t need a message. When you play Spurs you know what it means to the fans. As a player if you can’t get up for Spurs then you shouldn’t be playing football. You need to have that fire in your belly.
“In the second half the game got stretched. They maybe could have scored a couple but we could have got another five or six – that is the disappointing thing.
“The three points is the most important thing. Hopefully now we can go on a run because this is the most important part of the season.”
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“We’re unlucky we probably didn’t score 10 tonight”
Declan Rice reflects on Arsenal’s win in the North London Derby 👀
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Despite Rice’s comments, Arsenal only managed an xG of 1.64, suggesting they were more clinical rather than wasteful in front of goal.
But they still took the three points and Arteta was a happy man in his post-match interview.
He added: “Outstanding today. From the first minute we were really at it, really intense. We played with a real purpose to hurt them. We created an unbelivable atmosphere.
“We know how important the game is. It’s a gift we can make the supporters very happy.
“The attitude we played with, not feeling sorry for ourselves, was phenomenal. We played 120 minutes three days ago.
“We had some big chances and big situations. At the end we had to suffer more than we wanted.
“When you have opportunities [to close the gap] you have to take them. We are on a really consistent run in the Premier League. It’s about recovery tomorrow and Aston Villa on Saturday, going and going.”