Thierry Henry blames Declan Rice for Bayern Munich's opener at the Emirates
Thierry Henry believes that Declan Rice shoulders the blame for the concession of Arsenal's first goal in their 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
Mikel Arteta's side were held at the Emirates in the Champions League quarter-final first-leg, as goals from Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane cancelled out that of Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard.
The Gunners had taken the lead after Saka's pinpoint finish but were soon pegged back after a rare mix up at the back.
David Raya found himself out of position after he and Gabriel attempted to deal with a long ball but after the Brazilian's loose pass gifted possession Bayern, the Arsenal backline was exposed.
Henry reckons that Rice, who advanced to close down the space afforded to Leroy Sane on the ball, should have held his position, which would have made it harder for the winger to find Leon Goretzka, who in turn laid on a superb pass for Gnabry to finish.
Declan Rice has been one of Arsenal's standout performers this season, after completing a £105million move from West Ham last summer
Thierry Henry believes that Declan Rice was at fault for the Bayern opener on Tuesday night
Bayern Munich winger Serge Gnabry came back to haunt his former club with the opener for the German side
The goal of Gnabry and what Declan Rice should have done at that particular moment,' the Gunners legend told CBS Sports. 'Because you’re the police officer and a mistake happened, you have to rectify it.
'More often than not he does it, but he didn’t do it tonight.
'We talk about the goalkeeper coming, we talk about the back pass, but look at the distance between the two centre-backs, and I know at that particular moment it doesn’t look like that you’re going to be in trouble.
'At that moment, you cannot make the three steps he’s going to make.
'Leroy Sane wasn’t born yesterday, you make those three steps, Goretzka sees it and runs in behind because look at the gap between Gabriel and Saliba, and you have a man [Gnabry] running.
'If he [Rice] stays and sees the guys all in front of him, nothing happens.
'But as you know, when you lose the ball, you tend to want to go [to close down] because he thought it was going to be a short pass.
'But he’s [Sane] clever, he’s [Goretzka] clever, and on that one you are not.'
The home side then fell behind to Kane's confident penalty but they were able to draw level when substitutes Jesus and Trossard combined in the 76th minute.
Substitute Leandro Trossard levelled things up at the Emirates after fine work from Gabriel Jesus
In an eventful encounter, Arsenal felt they should have had a stoppage-time penalty when Manuel Neuer appeared to foul Saka in the area.
Bayern were also left incensed by a no-call from the officials after Gabriel handled the ball in the box to retake a goal kick, despite the referee blowing his whistle to begin play.
Related articles
Strictly's Katya Jones, 34, shares fears over her 'maternal clock' amid busy dance schedule
Katya Jones has shared her concerns about her 'maternal clock' ticking ahead of turning 35 this mont2024-05-08- People visit the Chinese exhibition area at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Bologna, Italy,2024-05-08
Egypt to increase number of aid trucks to war
Airdropped humanitarian aid falls toward the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, seen2024-05-08A technicolor twist on Yu the Great
For most Chinese, Dayu, or Yu the Great, is a household name. His feats blend myth and history, and2024-05-08Turkey formally opens another former Byzantine
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan formally opened a former Byzantine chur2024-05-08Lian and Yang win China's 7th diving gold at swimming worlds
(Xinhua) 11:12, July 18, 2023FUKUOKA, Japan, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Lian Junjie and Yang Hao retained t2024-05-08
atest comment