Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has been described by Gary O’Neil as a player who’s “not easy to get past”.
The Wolves manager was speaking to the club’s media team after the Gunners beat his side 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Arsenal raced into a two-goal lead, Bukayo Saka opening the scoring in the sixth minute and Martin Odegaard doubling the Gunners advantage on 13 minutes.
However, Arsenal faced a nervy end to the Premier League game in North London when Matheus Cunha halved the deficit four minutes from time.
It was the Wolves man’s second goal of the week and, speaking to the press, his manager pointed out how the forward gave players like Rice a tough time.
“He’s a top player,” O’Neil said. “Some of his moments today where he was able to walk past their defenders in the penalty area.
“I think one was Declan Rice, who is not easy to get past, and his shot hits Raya in the face, and he has those individual moments where he can turn on and turn games.”
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Arsenal star Declan Rice is ‘not easy to get past’
Credit to Wolves for giving Arsenal a tough game. Even though the Gunners were in control for most of the game, they never let their heads drop and made for a nervy finish.
O’Neill is spot on. Rice is not an easy player to get past, so Cunha should be pleased that he had some good moments against him.
That said, the 24-year-old Arsenal star had another great game. In all fairness, that’s pretty much standard for him now. He is consistent as well as world-class.
So much so, in fact, that virtually nobody is bringing up the £105million fee the Gunners paid West Ham for him. That’s testament to how he’s living up to lofty expectations.