Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice broke his silence on social media after being forced off injured in the first half of the Gunners’ 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Thursday night.
Declan Rice, who suffered an injury during Arsenal’s 1-0 win against Crystal Palace, posted on social media. Ebelesi Eze’s first-half goal against his former club ensured Mikel Arteta’s side regained a four-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Defeats to Man City and Liverpool widened the gap between the Gunners and the title contenders, with Bournemouth, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland rounding out the top four.
Victory was crucial for the Gunners, who are currently enjoying consistent results, but with William Saliba, Rice and Gabriel Martinelli injured against the Eagles, the three points may have come at a price.
After the game, Arteta told Football London: “The first one was Willy (William Saliba) who obviously had to go off at the end of the first half. Declan also got a knock and was struggling from the first half. And who’s the other one? Ricky too. So we’ll see what happens.”
He added: “In Willie’s case there are two things related to substitution. In Declan’s case it was a bruise so I’m not sure. But I don’t know if it was a calf or an Achilles tendon or what exactly it was.”
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However, Rice was upbeat after the game and shared three images celebrating the win on his Instagram Story.
In his first post, the England player shared a photo of himself celebrating after the final whistle, with the message: “+3 (points) against a tough opponent. Keep adding to the (brick emoji).”
Rice then posted an image from Arsenal’s official Instagram account, featuring the famous chant: “Wan Nil to Arsenal”, and added his own simple message: “Next (love heart emoji)”.
The last story he uploaded after the match was an image of him in action sending a set-piece into the box.
Thanks to their win against Palace, Arsenal maintain a six-point lead over Manchester City and Manchester United, while Liverpool are seven points behind after losing to Brentford.
Asked about his title rivals dropping points, Arteta said in the post-match press conference: “No, I didn’t know. I only found out after the game. I think most of the players do too.”
“I hope they didn’t know about that, probably through the staff, because they’re not allowed to use cell phones at half-time, but yeah, I think it’s a real positive.
“We came out in front because we did what we had to do. And it shows how difficult the league is and how complicated it is to win games.”
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