Declan Rice couldn’t hide his frustration after Arsenal slipped to a late 1-0 defeat away at Porto.
While the Gunners remain very much in this round of 16 Champions League tie, the England international admits he and his teammates paid the piece for late sloppiness as they conceded possession trying to break forward only to lose the ball allowing Brazilian winger Galeno to curl home in stoppage time.
“I think when it’s nil-nil, you look up at the clock, 93 minutes gone. If you ain’t going to win the game, don’t lose it,” Rice told TNT Sports.
“Maybe have that little bit of savviness about us at the end, just to stay and get a draw in a tough stadium against a tough opponent. But obviously a lot to play for in the next leg, which is at home.”
On the nature of the goal, he continued: “Yeah, so frustrating. I think it was the whole mixture of play, to be honest with you. It was a couple of giveaways on the edge of our box and we were breaking forward and then they caught us again on the counter and he’s stuck one in the top corner. Obviously, it’s really, really disappointing.
“We’ve just said in there, we’re really positive as a group. We’ve had such a good start to 2024, we’re not going to let this get us down. We’ve got a big one Saturday and then we’ll readjust this game, which obviously is a big one in two weeks’ time.”
Arsenal ended the match with 62% possession and had 10 corners to the home’s side one, but failed to register a shot on target. For their part, Porto were compact, organised and were happy to break up play with niggly fouls.
“I think they’ve lost two games here all season, obviously they know what they’re doing,” added Rice.
“You’ve seen Porto over the years in the Champions League, a really honest, hard-working side with some great players. Tonight they just made it really compact and difficult and we have to change our approach in the home leg and give it absolutely everything.
“This is the Champions League, it’s what we want to be competing in. So even even though we’re a goal down it’s a nice goal to aim for where we can change it around in the home.”
On what Arsenal need to do differently in three weeks, he said: “It’s just about keeping our head. It’s hard to concede that late but knowing we’ve got the home leg in front of us, knowing how we play at home with our fans and our energy, I think you’re going to see a team that plays on the front foot, straight from the start, looking to win the game. Hopefully, we can do that.”
“Honest”?
not sure if I’ve yet seen Declan being sarcastic but surely that’s sarcasm
they’re about as honest as a bunch of rabies-infested jackals
Just a nice way of saying they don’t have enough talent but make up for it with hard work.
But yeah, they were annoying as hell today. And might I say “dishonest to their federation”
White was at fault for being out of position too many times and too lazy to get back in shape defensively from his inversion fullback role. He gave no support going forward for Saka and left all the defensive duties to Rice when defending. He either is s–t at the new inversion role or he is carrying an injury. He was at fault for Rices yellow card as he should have been the one receiving the back pass, he was also at fault for their goal, because he went missing out of position which gave them all the space in… Read more »
Arguably the best England right back. Are you honestly dismissing him on just one match where he was certainly not the worst player for Arsenal? He’s been brilliant in recent weeks.
“Not sure what he brings to Arsenal.” I am not sure if you watch Arsenal…
Have a day off mate
We learn from this. 4-0 in the second leg. COYG!!!
We are going to smack them at home. I still believe.
Let these cheats try their luck at our gaff as they feel the wrath of our home crowd.
Hi there, those guys will do it.
I trust them.
We haven’t really missed Jesus in the last couple of games but last night I think we really did. His ability to put himself about the pitch, dribble his way out of pressure and put together quick passing moves would have really made a difference last night. I also hate to dust off a phrase that was seemingly consigned to the past, but the team lacked mental strength last night. It seems their heads went in the first minute as soon as Porto started charging at every player who even looked like getting possession, and we never really got it… Read more »
That’s our undoing.. when our players are getting charged at when in possession we play badly… Remember the game against
Newcastle how they kicked and fouled us in any given opportunity… We need to work on that or else teams will bully us to the possession immediately they See us freeze out of tackles