Declan Rice has said he has been keeping his free-kick taking ability in his “locker” and admitted “what I’ve done tonight is really special” after he scored two sublime goals in Arsenal‘s 3-0 victory over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.
Rice scored his first with a remarkable curling effort in the 58th minute to put Arsenal into the lead and repeated the trick 12 minutes later with a strike that left Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with no chance as the ball flew into the top corner.
The England midfielder’s goals were the first he has scored from a free-kick, arriving in the 339th game of his professional career. He has also become the first player to score two free-kicks in a Champions League knockout match.
“It’s been in the locker, but I’ve hit the wall too many times where it’s gone over the bar,” Rice told Amazon Prime. “Originally we was going to cross it and then I’ve just seen the wall and the goalkeeper’s position. I thought for the first one: ‘just go for it.’ And Bukayo said to ‘feel it,’ and I see out the outside of the wall and it went in.
“And then the second one I just had the confidence and I hit it and, yeah look, it’s not going to hit me yet because look, there’s another leg to go. I’m excited, I’m over the moon. I don’t mean to be cliché, but in a few years time I think this will hit me. What I’ve done tonight is really special.”
Mikel Merino rounded off the scoring for Arsenal before Madrid were reduced to 10 men when midfielder Eduardo Camavinga was shown a second yellow card in the dying embers of the game.
The Spaniard said he was not surprised to see Rice’s efforts hit the back of the net because he believes his teammate is one of the best ball-strikers in world football.
“I mean we had a few free-kicks in the last week and we didn’t score it, but honestly this guy has one of the best shooting abilities that I’ve seen in my career. So I mean, I’m not surprised. Maybe, hopefully, more will come in the future.”
Arsenal travel to the Bernabéu to face Madrid in the return leg on April 16.
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