London, UK – Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has called on his teammates to remain calm and focused after their 1-1 draw at Brentford on Thursday allowed Manchester City to close the gap at the top of the Premier League.
City are now just four points behind Mikel Arteta’s side and will have home advantage when the two teams meet in April. Arsenal, chasing their first league title in 22 years, had appeared to be cruising when they opened up a nine-point lead last weekend. But City’s late fightback to beat Liverpool 2-1 on Sunday, followed by a 3-0 win over Fulham, has reignited the title race.
Rice: “Block Out the Noise”
Speaking after the Brentford draw, Rice acknowledged the intensity of the season but insisted Arsenal must not be distracted by outside talk.
“This is a rollercoaster of a season. You can’t be naive to think this is going to be easy. We are playing against the best teams week in, week out. We have to keep pushing and believing in ourselves, controlling the controllable,” Rice said.
He added:
“We have to block out the outside noise. People are going to talk up the title race, but we have a really calm group. Brentford are one of the best teams in the league and their recent form shows that. It’s a point gained in our journey, but we wanted to win the game.”
Arteta Frustrated by Loss of Control
Manager Mikel Arteta expressed frustration at how his side let control slip after a strong start to the second half.
“We lacked composure to maintain the ball better, to play in the right areas. We started to give a lot of unnecessary free-kicks away,” Arteta said.
Arsenal’s strength from set-pieces has been a key factor in their title push, but they struggled against Brentford’s own prowess from dead-ball situations. The equaliser came from a long throw by Michael Kayode, flicked on by Sepp van den Berg and headed in by Keane Lewis-Potter.
“They are really good at it, so credit to them as well. They drag you into a game where it’s like a casino. Anything can happen and something really bad can happen!” Arteta admitted.
Title Race Heats Up
With City in relentless form and Arsenal dropping points, the Premier League title race is set to intensify in the coming weeks. The April clash between the two sides could prove decisive, but Rice’s message is clear: Arsenal must stay grounded and focused if they are to end their long wait for glory.
