Coach Mikel Arteta believes that each match actually started from the pre-match press conference. Therefore, Arsenal coaches are always cautious when sharing team information to avoid giving opponents more advantages.
In that context, Declan Rice's decisive shining performance in the 3-2 victory over Bournemouth was clearly "calculated" more than 24 hours ago.
Rice was absent from the victory over Aston Villa due to a knee injury. At the press conference before the match against Bournemouth, Arteta made quite vague statements, causing many people to doubt the possibility of this midfielder being able to participate in Vitality.
But not only taking the field from the beginning, Rice also scored 2 goals to bring about a valuable victory, thereby helping Arsenal widen the Premier League leading gap to 6 points.
Arsenal needed Rice in a match where they played disjointedly and were particularly careless when controlling the ball in the first half. Arteta - even with his usual standards - also appeared clearly annoyed on the wings, even having a lengthy argument with the Bournemouth bench after Rice was fouled but did not blow a foul right before the break.
Gabriel Magalhaes' mistake opened a bad start for Arsenal. In the 10th minute, the Brazilian center-back passed straight into Evanilson's feet right next to the penalty area. David Raya was in a passive position and Evanilson took advantage of it to finish easily.
Gabriel redeemed his mistake just 6 minutes later with a neat left-footed finish, equalizing 1-1, after Gabriel Martinelli's effort was blocked on the goal line.
However, Arsenal still could not stabilize. Bournemouth put strong pressure, pushed the away team into a defensive position and created a series of notable plays. It was not until about the first half of the second half that Arsenal played brighter. And that was the key stage for Rice to decide the match.
In statistics, only Martin Zubimendi surpassed Rice in the number of touches and ball recalls (Zubimendi 90 touches, 12 recalls; Rice 80 and 8). But the big difference lies in the direct contribution in the last 1/3 of the field. In the 54th minute, Rice calmly placed the ball into the corner of the net, and in the 71st minute, he repeated that scenario.
Both situations originated from the moment of handling and passing the ball with high accuracy by Martin Odegaard - who assisted the first goal and opened up opportunities for Bukayo Saka (who came on from the bench) to directly participate in the remaining goal.
Arsenal could have "closed" the match earlier, especially against an unbeaten opponent since October 26, but the "Gunners" still tend to push themselves into a tense situation. Junior Kroupi entered the field and launched a dangerous long-range shot to defeat Raya, narrowing the gap. However, Bournemouth did not have any more shots on target afterwards, and Arsenal maintained the score until the end of the match.
On a cold night, most of the second half was filled with cheering melodies for Rice. This is only the second time in his career he has scored a double, after the first time in April last year with two shocking free kicks against Real Madrid.
It is still too early to confirm that this victory will define the season, as Arsenal is looking for their first Premier League title in 22 years. However, although not perfect, they still do enough to maintain the leading position and continue to put pressure on Manchester City.
When Arteta was asked about setting new goals for Rice, he emphasized that the key factor is not only "setting goals", but having a plan to make them a reality.
He is extremely consistent in everything you ask for and in everything he really wants to do. He has the ability, he has the qualities, but the important thing is consistency every day. And then you will see such performances" - the Spanish captain said.
