DECLAN Rice has insisted that Arsenal are still very much in the race for the English Premier League title despite their shock 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa yesterday.
Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins struck at a stunned Emirates Stadium yesterday as Unai Emery led his side to put a big dent in his former club’s chances of a first Premier League title in 20 years.
The result took Arsenal from the top of the table to third spot, two points behind new leaders Manchester City with six rounds of matches to go.
Despite the demoralising defeat, Rice, who cost Arsenal a staggering £105m from West Ham in the summer, is confident the Gunners will fight back.
“We’re gutted and disappointed we’ve lost a massive game but, it’s time for a reaction,” the England midfielder said in his post-match interview.
“We’ve been on such an amazing run since January, won so many football matches, and got ourselves back into an unbelievable position after being written off at Christmas.
“Now that reaction starts in the Champions League against Bayern, so we’ll be ready for that. We have to park this to the side now. It’s gone, it’s a game of football. We’ve lost but we need to bounce back, that’s for sure.
“It’s a great chance for us to get into a Champions League semi-final. Going to the Allianz Arena, it’s going to be a special night. It’s time to pull our socks up and show everyone why we’re in this position.
“It’s not over yet, there’s six games to go. We’re in an unbelievable position, two points behind. We’re still ready, we’re still fully focused on what we want to do and what we can achieve. There’s going to be many more twists and turns in the Premier League, I think you can see that with the other results today. Anything can happen and we’ll stay positive.”
Arsenal were dominant in the first half against Villa and had presentable chances to take the lead, but the visitors were stronger in the second half.
Bailey and boyhood Arsenal fan Watkins netted late to shock the Gunners and Rice rued the opportunities his side missed.
“When you create that many chances and have that many one-on-ones with the keeper or you get to the byline and you don’t quite get the cross, or don’t quite get the finish it’s very disappointing,” he noted.
“We’ve got to be taking one of those chances because in games like this, teams like Villa have got quality and can come back to haunt you and they did today.
“I think in the first half they gave us so much space, then second half they adapted to that. They closed everything up, and where we were having our success in the first half, they shut down completely.
“We didn’t have enough attempts on goal in the second half, that’s for sure, in a game where we should be winning.”
