Declan Rice claims Arsenal should have 'scored ten' in north London derby win over Tottenham | OneFootball

Arsenal again missed several chances but were not made to pay by Spurs

Declan Rice hailed Arsenal after their win over Tottenham, insisting they could have scored ten goals in the north London derby.

As has been the case in recent matches, there were a number of missed chances from Arsenal, with Kai Havertz unable to take two big headed opportunities and Raheem Sterling and Martin Odegaard both failing to make the most of the ball dropping to them in the box.

Rice was relieved that Arsenal returned to winning ways after recent cup defeats to Newcastle and Manchester United, but he admitted the team must find a more clinical edge.

“Tonight meant more than anything,” Rice told TNT Sports.

“From the first minute, the first 45 minutes was just pure domination. We showed that intent, that pressure, that desire. You could tell it was a derby.

“To be honest with you, we were unlucky we didn’t score ten tonight, I think that’s the feeling.”

Arsenal started the match well as Spurs struggled to get out of their own half, but the visitors scored against the run of play to halt that momentum.

The Gunners were swiftly back on the front-foot, though, with that Son goal a rare moment of promise for Spurs in an otherwise largely dominant Arsenal performance in the opening 45 minutes.

On what was behind Arsenal’s fast start, Rice said: “You don’t need a message. When you play Spurs, you know what it means to the fans.

“If you’re a player and you can’t get up for Spurs, then you shouldn’t be playing football. You need that fire in your belly and we had that tonight.

“Second-half the game got stretched, they could have maybe scored a couple. But we could have had another five or six and that’s the disappointing thing.”