Declan Rice left the CBS Sports panel, including Jamie Carragher and Thierry Henry, in stitches after burning Micah Richards during a live TV interview.
Rice was speaking after his Man of the Match performance for Arsenal, who secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night with a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen at the Emirates Stadium.
Richards was at the Etihad Stadium to witness Man City crash out of the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid. Pep Guardiola, who was involved in a clash with defender Antonio Rudiger after the full-time whistle, watched on as his side were beaten 2-1 on the night and 5-1 on aggregate.
Declan Rice Burns Micah Richards
Man City fans slam Micah Richards
Man City fans slam Micah Richards
Towards the end of Rice’s calm interview with the CBS Sports team, Richards livened things up after he was beamed in live from Manchester to chat with the Arsenal star. The retired defender suggested Man City are ready to beat the Gunners in this weekend’s Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
“Dec, you know full well I love you as a player,” Richards said, “but… we’ll see you on Sunday, eh? Just make sure you’re ready on Sunday because City are coming through! City! City! City!”
Rice produced the perfect response to silence Richards there and then. The England international, who finds himself in early contention for the 2026 Ballon d’Or award, replied: “I thought he was an Arsenal fan, Micah?”
Carragher found this hilarious and shouted out: “He’s just lost his ambassadorial gig!”
Richards, who has faced criticism from Man City fans for certain pro-Arsenal comments he’s made this season, said: “We all know I’m City through and through.” Carragher, still laughing, said to Rice: “You’ve killed him!” Watch the funny clip below:
Richards appeared to be crestfallen last month after Arsenal dropped points against Wolves in the Premier League, prompting Carragher to ask: “Why are you upset? You’re Manchester City aren’t you?”
The retired defender replied: “I just want Arsenal to do well!”
Richards has previously revealed that he grew up supporting Arsenal and still has a big soft spot for the north London outfit.
When asked who he supports by boxer Tony Bellow on A League of Their Own last year, Richards said: “Who do I support? Well, depends if I’m on-air or off-air.”
He added that he supports Man City when working on TV, but replied “Yes!” when presenter Romesh Ranganathan joked that he’s secretly an Arsenal fan off-air.