da cassino online： The Gunners' club-record signing has already become a fan favourite in north London and has given his new team an edge they previously lacked
da betobet： Arsenal were already a very good side; Declan Rice could make them a great one. The Gunners went all out to get the England midfielder in the summer, doing all the groundwork and then outbidding Manchester City to get their man. And on early impressions, it was worth every sinew of energy, and every penny of his £105 million ($132m) transfer fee.
Rice was dominant for Arsenal in Sunday's thriller against Manchester United, and when push came to shove it was the club-record signing who came to the fore and grabbed the crucial goal in the eventual 3-1 win. It was not the best goal Rice has ever scored, taking a big deflection off Jonny Evans and flummoxing the otherwise excellent Andre Onana, but it is among the most important strikes of the 24-year-old's career.
Arsenal were in danger of losing to United despite dominating the first half, with VAR needing to intervene to prevent Alejandro Garnacho putting the impressive visitors back in front late in the game. But Rice, who had had the better of Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes for much of this gripping encounter, pulled Arsenal back in front in the 96th minute, before Gabriel Jesus made sure of the points.
It was a huge victory for Arsenal, who have 10 points from their opening four games, and will give them belief that they can catch early front-runners City, who chased them down last season. United, meanwhile, were left cursing their dreadful away form once more and left even more concerned by an alarmingly long injury list.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the Emirates Stadium…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Declan Rice
As soon as the final whistle had blown, Arsenal’s stadium DJ pressed play on Vanilla Ice’s 'Ice Ice Baby' and the party began in earnest. Gunners fans were already pretty high on their new defensive midfielder, but after his deflected effort secured a vital three points, any remaining doubters were emphatically inducted into the Rice Fan Club.
It wasn’t just his goal that was so impressive on Sunday. Rice oozed class throughout this encounter. He was the rock-solid base that his side used to dominate large spells of this game, and when Arsenal didn’t have the ball he was soon on the hunt to win it back.
When you consider the shoddy start fellow £100m-plus midfielder Moises Caicedo has endured in west London, that Rice has taken like a duck to water at the Emirates is even more impressive. He is already looking like an extremely sound investment.
AdvertisementGettyLOSER: Ten Hag's dismal away record
You had to feel for United. This was arguably their best performance of the season and a huge improvement on some of their frankly shambolic away displays of last term. But ultimately they had the same result: yet another loss at the home of a top-nine side.
Erik ten Hag's team picked up just one point away to the top nine sides last season, losing to Arsenal, Brighton, Newcastle and Aston Villa (in addition to relegation-fighting West Ham) while getting hammered by Liverpool, Brentford and Manchester City. And they have made another ominous start to the season on the road, losing to Tottenham and now Arsenal.
This was a much better effort than their dismal defeat to Spurs, but the manner of this loss is only going to increase their mental block every time they head off on an away trip. The good news is that their next away game is against Burnley, who have no points from their three matches – all at home – so far.
WINNER: Gabriel Magalhaes
Gabriel Magalhaes – who did not miss a single Premier League match last season – has been the victim of Mikel Arteta’s tactical experiments in recent weeks, and the defender would’ve had the Gunners’ boss recent comments ringing in his ears when he was restored to the starting line-up here.
“I think he understands the reason [for not starting], whether he agrees or not, that’s something different. But the best way to do it is when you play, just tell me how blind I’m wrong, I am,” Arteta said.
The centre-back responded to this challenge emphatically against United, scarcely putting a foot wrong at the back and keeping the ball nicely. Arteta is always looking for the next innovation, but the return of his trusted back four proved that the familiar can sometimes be best. Gabriel’s challenge now is to keep his place when Thomas Partey returns to the fray.
Getty ImagesLOSER: Kai Havertz
The debate surrounding Havertz’s immediate future in the Arsenal first-team had reached fever pitch in the days leading up to kick-off. In the end, an untimely injury to Partey likely saved him his place in midfield on Sunday – but on the evidence of his performance against United, he might not last too much longer.
After floating on the periphery of the action in the opening exchanges, the German’s big moment fell to him on a plate. A diabolical clearance from Diogo Dalot sat the ball up nicely for Havertz, but in a moment of pure farce, he air-kicked it and Lisandro Martinez was able to clear.
The circus continued soon after when Havertz lost possession cheaply in midfield. A few flashes of black and white later and the ball was nestling in the back of the net. Havertz’s face after Marcus Rashford’s effort flew past Aaron Ramsdale told the story of a player who knows he’s already under serious pressure just a few weeks into his ‘fresh start’.
He thought he might have redeemed himself somewhat when he won a penalty just before the hour mark, but Havertz’s miserable day at the office was capped off when VAR intervened and overturned Anthony Taylor’s original decision.