Declan Rice celebrates scoring against Burnley.placeholder image
Declan Rice celebrates scoring against Burnley. | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
The Arsenal midfielder scored the second of the London side's two goals at Turf Moor on Sunday.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has explained the meaning behind his goal celebration after putting the ball in the back of the net at Turf Moor.
The Gunners strengthened their lead at the top of the Premier League table with a 2-0 win over Burnley. The clash with the newly promoted outfit could have presented somewhat of a banana skin with the Clarets buoyed by two back-to-back wins.
However, Mikel Arteta’s side cruised to another three points with another clean sheet banked in the process. Viktor Gyokeres opened the scoring after 14 minutes before Rice headed home a Leandro Trossard cross on the break in the 35th minute.
Declan Rice explains Burnley goal celebration
When celebrating the goal, Rice made the emotional gesture of pointing to the sky. Explaining that celebration, which was unusual for him, after the match, the England international said: "My auntie passed away before the Fulham game. I loved her to death. Travelled everywhere to watch me with my mum. I know she's watching down so that was for her today."
Speaking about the trip to Turf More more generally, he added: "They've maybe lost once in like 18 months. We knew it was going to be tough, so we had to stick to our principles. Our quality shone through and we could have scored four or five in the first half.
"It's important we keep scoring goals. Two goals are perfect for us. If you look at the goal as a whole, we're defending a long throw from our own half. Big Gabby wins the ball and I keep running with the ball. I was like a traditional number nine!”
Mikel Arteta praises Arsenal performance
Rice was singled out for praise by Arteta after the game with the Arsenal manager still impressed with how the midfielder develops. Arteta said: "He stepped up. He won I don't know how many balls and tackles. It's the evolution of a player."
Arsenal are now seven points clear at the summit of the Premier League table, although AFC Bournemouth, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland do all have a game in hand at the time of writing.
Giving his reaction to the win against Burnley, Arteta said: "The first half was exceptional, we scored two goals and gave nothing away. That was the platform. We had to make a few changes and didn't have that much control in the second half. Defending was exceptional again, we didn't give anything. There is a reason they have lost one game in 18 months here, against Liverpool in the last second of the game.”
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