Declan Rice could be forced to eat his words following Arsenal's defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final
Declan Rice of Arsenal looks dejected
Declan Rice remains without a trophy since joining Arsenal(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
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Manchester City have the benefit of momentum on their side following their Carabao Cup final win against Arsenal, according to Declan Rice. It was prior to the Gunners' 2-0 loss at Wembley this past Sunday that the England midfielder discussed the opportunity of claiming his first piece of silverware since joining the club in an £105million deal three years ago.
The Carabao Cup would also have provided the first piece of a potential unprecedented quadruple-winning campaign, with Rice insisting the victory would propel the squad even further in their quest for greatness.
He said: "Definitely, it could be the start of something. It is the first trophy that is up for grabs. If you win that, the momentum after that, that takes you forward, is massive."
However, given it was City that captured the trophy, it's Pep Guardiola's side who have instead been bolstered when it comes to the Premier League title race, albeit still sitting nine points behind the north London side with a game in hand.
Earning the first trophy of the season while ending Arsenal's dreams of a quadruple is a simultaneous blow to Arteta's squad and is a position the players have not yet experienced due to their relative inexperience in winning honours.
Rice took to Instagram following the defeat and wrote: "One final defeat doesn't define us. Only makes us hungrier to go on and finish the season strong. Thank you to our amazing fans as always. See you after the break."
Arteta admitted after full-time that his side failed to make the most of their momentum during the game and were punished by the Citizens. The Spaniard said: "You can have momentum, but if nothing happens, that momentum will shift at some point.
Declan Rice of Arsenal & his team-mates react to conceding a second goal to Manchester City
Arsenal lost their fourth straight Carabao Cup final on Sunday(Image: Getty Images)
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"And it was probably in the worst moment when that happened and that's it, you have to take it. Sometimes you have to accept that the opposition was good in that moment. They capitalised and that's what you have to do if you want to win titles."
City can cut their deficit to three points should they win their game-in-hand and defeat the Gunners at the Etihad next month. Arsenal icon Freddie Ljungberg warned his former side that their sizeable lead can quickly be cut down by a team as accomplished and confident as City will be now.
Speaking after Sunday’s defeat, the Swede said: "It is a blow. The talk of the town, that’s Arsenal. Arsenal are the new ones coming in. They are doing amazing in the Champions League, it was the quadruple, everything was going their way.
Pep Guardiola manager of Manchester City with Manel Estiarte head of player support during the Carabao Cup Final match Arsenal and between Manchester City
Pep Guardiola is on the hunt for a seventh Premier League title(Image: Getty Images)
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"Manchester City had a Champions League run, they’ve been heavily criticised, but all of a sudden, they demolish Arsenal a little bit. It was 2-0, they had the ball all the time and I think it’s going to be hard for them.
"I think they feel they’re going to win the league but if you look at this here, they’re going to go to the Etihad and I would imagine City would be like, ‘We’ll take three points there!’ Of course there’s a break now but then they probably need to go clean [slate] because if City now gears up and goes clean…"
With the international break now upon us, Arsenal and City are each next back in action on April 4 in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. The Gunners travel to Southampton while City host Liverpool.
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