Declan Rice embarrasses Paul Merson live on Sky with Arsenal stunner v Real Madrid
Paul Merson was made to eat his words live on Sky Sports by Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice after his stunning performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta‘s side welcomed the competition’s defending champions to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night (8 April) in the first leg of their quarter final tie.
Arsenal produced a stunning performance to beat Real Madrid 3-0 and put themselves into an excellent position ahead of the second leg at the Bernabeu next week.
Rice was the chief orchestrator of that success, and in doing so the midfielder made Merson look rather foolish with one particular comment.
Declan Rice nets stunning brace of free kicks vs Real Madrid
After a goalless first half, the Gunners eventually took the lead through Rice in the 58th minute courtesy of a stunning free kick.
Returning Arsenal talisman Bukayo Saka had drawn a foul from David Alaba some 30 yards from goal, before his fellow England international stepped over the ball.
Merson though was sceptical about the Gunners midfielder’s apparent intention to go for goal before he struck the ball, only to be made to backtrack on those claims just moments later.
| Declan Rice vs Real Madrid | Total (as per SofaScore) |
| Goals | 2 |
| Shots on Target | 4 |
| Shots off Target | 0 |
| Successful Passes | 27/30 |
| Duels Won | 1/4 |
Speaking about that free-kick from Rice while reporting on the game for Sky Sports Soccer Special, the former Gunners man dismissed even the possibility of scoring (9:16pm): “Yeah about 30 yards out Saka’s won a free kick against Alaba.
“He’s been really good to be fair Saka when he’s had the ball, comes across the pitch, keeps on riding the challenge and then goes down.
“It’s a free kick, 30 yards, just to the right-hand side. Yeah, they’d do well to score from here if I’m being honest. Saka’s over it, Rice is over it, I think is going to be crossed. I’d be shocked if they had a shot.
“I doubt you beat Courtois from here. I think he’s going to have to whip it. Rice is going to take it. I think he’s going to… Rice… What a goal!
“What a goal! Oh my what a goal! Oh my, I’m saying ‘don’t shoot from there’, what a goal Declan Rice. He whips it with the right foot around the wall, I mean, wow.”
Just 12 minutes later Rice would repeat the trick by converting another spectacular free kick to double his side’s lead, before Mikel Merino made it 3-0 with quarter of an hour remaining.
Arsenal have a new set-piece star
Football Insider Verdict
Given it was noted just moments later that Rice had never scored a direct free kick in his career prior to this game, you can understand some of Merson’s initial sceptism about his plans to shoot.
But after coming up with the goods from this situation not once but twice in this game, it is hard to imagine that anyone will ever doubt the Arsenal man when it comes to a direct free kick again.
Indeed, Rice has been one of his side’s main corner takers this season, in a period where they have scored numerous goals from those situations.
In that sense it arguably should not be as much of a surprise that the England international has now made an impact from another type of set-piece situation.
There will not be many at Arsenal standing in the way of Rice when it comes to free kicks for the time being, now he has shown how good he can be in those positions.
All of that has put Arteta’s side in an excellent position ahead of the second leg, although given Real Madrid‘s penchant for remarkable comebacks in this competition, they cannot consider the job done yet.