The full-back scored twice in a performance that highlighted just what he could offer the Three Lions at Euro 2024
"Who put the ball in the Chelsea net? Half the f*cking team did!" That was just one of the chants that rang out across north London on Tuesday evening as Arsenal fans toasted their glorious 5-0 victory over the Blues. It's worth remembering that this wasn't always comfortable, but once the hosts found their groove, the ease with which a Cole Palmer-less Chelsea laid down was pretty pitiful.
The Gunners scored early through Leandro Trossard, with both teams squandering decent chances to add to the scoreline before the break. Arsenal, though, then firmly took control after the interval. With Martin Odegaard orchestrating everything, Ben White helped himself to a very rare brace, while a delighted Kai Havertz also netted twice against his former club to seal a 5-0 victory.
It's Arsenal's biggest-ever victory over their London rivals, which neatly symbolises the extraordinary gulf between the two teams at present. For Mikel Arteta's side, the result represents a significant statement in the Premier League title race. But for Mauricio Pochettino, it proved that without his star man, his charges simply cannot come close to competing with the division's big boys.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the Emirates Stadium…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Declan Rice
For years, it seemed like Declan Rice would end up back at the club that released him as a youngster. In fact, former Chelsea assistant manager Jody Morris even claimed that the Blues let the chance to re-sign him for just £65 million ($80m) slip through their fingers during Frank Lampard's first spell in charge.
This missed opportunity will hurt even more tonight, as the Premier League Player of the Season candidate put in another near-flawless display in the middle of the park for Arsenal. Afforded greater attacking freedom thanks to the return of the brilliant Thomas Partey at the base of midfield, it did not take Rice long to make the most of this license to thrill.
With just over three minutes on the clock, he picked up the ball in space and started trundling forward, before eventually releasing Trossard, who finished powerfully at the front post. This set the tone for a dominant performance, with Rice going close to scoring a first-half goal himself not long after.
And it wasn't just his attacking contributions that were impressive. Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo simply couldn't deal with his physicality, with Rice finishing the game with five tackles and two interceptions. Quite simply, he was immense, showing his boyhood club the error of their ways in the process.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLOSER: Gareth Southgate
It wasn't a good St George's Day for the England manager…. If Gareth Southgate was tuned in at home, he would have watched Ben White put in another accomplished display at right-back score twice – providing a further reminder of how frustrating it is for the Three Lions boss that he won't be able to call on the Arsenal star's talents for Euro 2024 this summer.
Regardless of what you think of the situation surrounding White's continued indifference to forming part of Southgate's plans, it doesn't take a genius to work out that England would have a significantly better chance of continental glory in Germany if he was with the squad. However, for the moment at least, that just isn't going to happen.
Southgate's misfortune was also compounded by the concerning display Conor Gallagher put in for Chelsea. Wasteful in possession, lacking guile and just generally appearing a little lost, it's hardly the sort of form the England boss will want one of his near-guaranteed squad picks to be exhibiting just a few months out from a major tournament.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Martin Odegaard
Odegaard's left foot is inexplicable. On more than one occasion on Tuesday, this writer muttered expletives under his breath, such was the amazement at some of the passes Arsenal's captain managed to pull off. In the end, he completed eight key passes throughout an artistic 90 minutes, continuing his splendid recent form.
The main event, of course, was his assist for Havertz's first goal. Altering his body for a split second to peer around the advancing Gallagher, Odegaard soon returned to his hunched position before unleashing an explosive, 40-yard pass into the path of his German team-mate.
Kevin De Bruyne has made this sort of impossible ball fashionable over the past half-decade or so, but he now has a rival for his status as the Premier League's most entertaining creative force.
Getty ImagesLOSER: Arsenal's former transfer targets
Back in January 2023, Arsenal had two main transfer targets: Mykhailo Mudryk and Moises Caicedo. The duo were seen by Arteta and sporting director Edu as players who could take the Gunners to the next level and keep them on track to win the first Premier League title since 2004 that they so crave.
Fast-forward 15 months, and Mudryk and Caicedo lined-up alongside one another at the Emirates Stadium for the first time, but in Chelsea shirts. The pair cost the Blues a combined £204 million ($256m), and were expected to lead the club into a new era of success. However, things haven't gone to plan for either player, and Arsenal fans must have been watching on Tuesday wondering what all the fuss was about.
Chelsea memorably gazumped Arsenal to sign Mudryk in January of last year, but the Ukraine winger has continually looked a shadow of the player who broke onto the scene in spectacular fashion at Shakhtar Donetsk. Here, he was virtually anonymous on the left-wing having been brought in to replace the absent Palmer, and was replaced midway through the second half.
To make matters worse, the player Arsenal 'settled' for after missing out on Mudryk, Trossard, opened the scoring with the latest in a number of crucial recent goals.
Caicedo, meanwhile, proved too expensive for Arsenal in the middle of last season, but he continues to defy the British-record fee that Chelsea paid for him last summer. He barely broke out of a jog on Tuesday, as Odegaard passed the ball around him as if he were a training cone, while it beggars belief that he cost more than Rice when both were on the market in pre-season. It certainly looks like Arsenal dodged a couple of bullets three windows ago.