A 3-0 first-leg victory at home is indeed one of the biggest moments in Mikel Arteta’s career as Arsenal boss.
Declan Rice’s second-half brace and striker Mikel Merino’s 75th-minute goal helped Arsenal take a 3-0 advantage over Real Madrid in the UCL quarter-finals.
This means before the second leg next Wednesday, the away side carry a 3-0 advantage.
Manager Arteta did not expect Rice, who never scored a successful free-kick for Arsenal, to blast two in the second half at home.
After the match, Arteta said that the last free-kick goal of the Gunners came in September 2021.
So it was a shocker for him too. As all of a sudden, two goals came with the help of Rice’s free-kicks.
He said: “He’s (Rice) been really 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.
“It’s been a long time, so to score two goals in 12 minutes of that magnitude and quality from the same player – a player that has never scored a free kick before in his career – what are the odds? But he’s done it tonight.”
Arsenal, who are away from winning the Premier League title ahead of leaders Liverpool (11 points gap), have a better chance to reach the semis. And be close to winning silverware they have not in the rich history of way over 100 years.
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