Sunderland midfielder Noah Sadiki was full of praise for Declan Rice after he delivered another superb performance in Arsenal’s routine 3-0 home win.
The Gunners made it four wins in a row all competitions courtesy of a first-half strike from Martin Zubimendi and a brace from Viktor Gyokeres.
And Mikel Arteta’s side now sit nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table, piling the pressure on Manchester City who face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
It was another consummate display from Arsenal, who have looked back to their best this last week after a slight blip in January, which saw them pick up only five points from a possible 12 in the league.
And Rice, who almost scored with a superb whipped effort in the first half, once again received plenty of plaudits for his display alongside the aforementioned Zubimendi in the middle of the park.
Speaking about the Englishman at full-time, Sunderland’s Sadiki told Voetbal Primeur: ‘Rice is really special to play against one against one.
‘In the beginning I wondered: do I run as much as he does? He, he runs a lot, but he also runs fast.
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‘He always chooses the right pass, he does everything at the right pace, you see? In the Premier League only good players play, really impressive.’
Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson was equally glowing with praise for Rice’s display on Saturday, telling Sky Sports: ‘I thought Declan Rice was outstanding.
‘When people go, ‘oh I can’t play this many games’, he is week in, week out. Every single week, same performances – absolutely outstanding.’
Arteta, meanwhile, was left pleased with his side’s defensive effort to keep yet another clean sheet, but refused to read too much into Arsenal’s widening lead at the top of the table.
‘Very, very happy obviously with the win, with big parts of the performance, with the clean sheet as well, because it’s a really tough opponent,’ he said post-match.
‘They’re really good at what they do, really good at breaking play, playing to the last line, breaking your press, holding the ball, and it’s very difficult to get sequences with threat and momentum consecutively.
‘But we knew that, I think the first goal really helped to unlock that kind of phase, and then again, the finishers, they came on the pitch and immediately they had a huge impact.
‘We still have to win so many games to achieve what we want,’ he added. ‘So, there’s no focus on that, that’s something else.
‘We’ve done our job now, we’ve had what we have to do, so I assess that, try to improve it and get ready for Brentford.’
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