Declan Rice had to console one of his teammates after Arsenal's defeat by Bournemouth
16:29, 11 Apr 2026
Declan Rice of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium on April 11, 2026 in London, United Kingdom
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Declan Rice had an afternoon to forget when Arsenal faced Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium(Image: Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Declan Rice was spotted consoling Martin Zubimendi during Arsenal's defeat to Bournemouth. The 27-year-old defender, whom the Gunners signed from Real Sociedad for £60m in the summer, had an afternoon to forget at the Emirates Stadium as the Cherries waltzed away 2-1 victors.
Between Rice and Zubimendi, they lost possession 29 times during the clash against Andoni Iraola's side. The duo offered little to no quality in the middle of the park; they proved no match for Ryan Christie and Alex Scott, who played key roles in extending Bournemouth's unbeaten run to 12 games.
During the first half, as Viktor Gyokeres prepared to take his penalty, a fan uploaded a video to Reddit capturing the moment Rice noticed Zubimendi was struggling. Determined to lift his teammates' spirits, the England international put his arm around the Spaniard.
Rice patted Zubimendi's chest while shouting something in his ear. Myles Lewis-Skelly also consoled the midfielder, as did Gabriel Magalhaes, who tried to revitalise him by exchanging a few words and a handshake.
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Noni Madueke offered Zubimendi his support too, shaking his hand as well. Despite their best efforts to lift the midfielder, he was later at fault for the winner, failing to track his marker into the box.
Following a turnover in the middle of the park, Zubimendi was left rooted to the spot when Evanilson teed up Scott, who guided the ball past David Raya from close range to seal three crucial points.
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Speaking to reporters after the game, Mikel Arteta described the result as a 'big punch in the face'. The Arsenal boss said: "Well, extremely disappointing. It's a big punch on the face.
"That's what I said to the boys. And now it's about how we react to that. Because game on, you're going to require now a big speed, a lot of fight and very clear. How are we going to approach that?
"There's no grey areas. We are in, we are out. And we need to be very, very, very strong and determined to approach it in a different way than we've done today, especially when the game wasn't going our way."
Arsenal players struggled in their Premier League clash with Bournemouth
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Arsenal players struggled in their Premier League clash with Bournemouth(Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
On whether he's worried how the team will react, Arteta said: "No, because I've seen them before in many scenarios and I've seen them for nine months. But today, there were some very basic things that we did extremely bad against their team.
"When you do that, they're going to capitalise, stretch the pitch. Again, it becomes very chaotic and very difficult to control. So, yeah, it's a lot of good things that they've done, obviously, credit to them. But I think there's a lot, a lot, a lot in our plate to look at ourselves."
Arteta added: "What I'm trying to do is give our best to the club, give the responsibility to our players. And I know if the atmosphere, the fans, the support, the energy in the stadium is the best in the world.
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"We have a much better chance. I don't think that there's any other possibility to perform better than when you have that kind of support. But then we have to respond.
"And we had moments in the first half where we did it and there were other moments that we were on our level. So, yeah, we have to apologise to them and improve."
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