90min

William Saliba delivers hilarious reaction to Declan Rice's Arsenal heroics

  • Arsenal romped to a 3-0 Champions League victory over Real Madrid on Tuesday
  • Declan Rice scored the first two free kicks of his senior career
  • William Saliba was taken aback by his teammates' feat

By Grey Whitebloom

Declan Rice's free-kick heroics were a surprise for his Arsenal teammates
Declan Rice's free-kick heroics were a surprise for his Arsenal teammates / Catherine Ivill - AMA/GettyImages
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Arsenal centre-back William Saliba joked that he had never before seen Declan Rice "take a good free kick" after watching his teammate score twice from dead balls against Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

Rice bent his first effort around Madrid's wall to break the deadlock 12 minutes before powering a second free kick beyond Thibaut Courtois. Mikel Merino's crisp strike capped off a 3-0 victory in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final.

"Today is the first time I've seen Dec take a good free kick," Saliba laughed to reporters after the knockout tie at a jubilant Emirates Stadium. "We don't usually score many goals from free kicks. I'm very proud of him and I hope we score more like that again. I'm sure he'll do it again."

No Arsenal player had scored a direct free kick since Martin Odegaard curled one in against Burnley in September 2021. Rice had never found the back of the net from this particular dead-ball scenario in his professional career, although the England international had only been afforded 12 attempts across his first 338 senior appearances.

Declan Rice, Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Antonio Ruediger, Eduardo Camavinga
Bukayo Saka told Declan Rice: "If you feel it, go for it." / Justin Setterfield/GettyImages

Rice was more confident in his abilities than Saliba. Tuesday's match-winner ignored the advice of Arsenal's set-piece coach Nicolas Jover when taking aim with his first effort. "It's been in the locker," Rice insisted.

Saliba's regular centre-back partner Gabriel wasn't fit to feature, wrapped up warm while watching on from the stands. The Brazilian found his way into the dressing room for the post-match celebrations and lavished Rice with praise, pleading with the England midfielder to "give me your right foot".

According to Opta's expected goals model, Rice had a 1 in 435 chance of scoring both free kicks based upon the position of both dead balls.

Only four other players have ever scored two direct free kicks in the same Champions League game. Rice joined an illustrious list made up of Rivaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Hakim Ziyech.

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