{"id":63992,"date":"2025-04-09T08:40:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T08:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=63992"},"modified":"2025-04-09T08:40:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T08:40:55","slug":"rice-double-sinks-madrid-as-arsenal-claim-commanding-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/04\/09\/rice-double-sinks-madrid-as-arsenal-claim-commanding-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Rice double sinks Madrid as Arsenal claim commanding win"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Oluwamayowa Fakande<\/strong><\/p>\n

Declan Rice delivered a masterclass at The Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, scoring two breathtaking free kicks to inspire Arsenal to a stunning three nil victory over reigning champions Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.<\/p>\n

The England midfielder, known more for his midfield control than set piece brilliance, lit up the contest with two moments of magic that left the Spanish giants shell shocked.<\/p>\n

Adding to the night\u2019s drama, Mikel Merino capped the display with a composed finish to seal a commanding advantage for the Gunners.<\/p>\n

Arsenal dominated much of the first half, pinning Madrid back as the visitors struggled to find their rhythm.<\/p>\n

The pressure almost paid off early when Eduardo Camavinga nearly deflected a clearance into his own net, while Thomas Partey tested Thibault Courtois with a drive that lacked the power to trouble the keeper.<\/p>\n

Madrid, chasing a record extending sixteenth European crown, grew into the game but remained largely disjointed, with their rare openings coming from Arsenal\u2019s mistakes rather than their own creativity.<\/p>\n

Courtois was kept busy throughout, producing a superb double save just before halftime, the highlight being a reflex stop from a powerful Rice header.<\/p>\n

However, there was no stopping Rice when it mattered most. In the fifty eighth minute, he curled a fierce shot around the wall and beyond Courtois to open the scoring with his first ever goal from a direct free kick.<\/p>\n

“It has been in the locker but too often I have hit the wall or sent it over the bar. I was going to cross it, but I saw the wall and the keeper\u2019s position and thought, just go for it,” Rice admitted after the match.<\/p>\n

Arsenal pressed on relentlessly. Courtois briefly kept Madrid in the contest with a flying save to deny Gabriel Martinelli, followed by a crucial stop from Merino, while David Alaba cleared off the line to keep the deficit manageable.<\/p>\n

But Rice was not finished. His second free kick, a perfectly placed strike into the top corner in the seventieth minute, sent the Emirates crowd into raptures and left the Madrid defence in despair.<\/p>\n

Moments later, substitute Leandro Trossard combined with Myles Lewis Skelly, who teed up Merino for a cool finish to make it three nil, wrapping up a memorable night for Mikel Arteta\u2019s side.<\/p>\n

As the final whistle blew, Arsenal\u2019s dream of European glory looked very much alive, while Madrid faces an uphill battle in the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Oluwamayowa Fakande Declan Rice delivered a masterclass at The Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, scoring two breathtaking free kicks to inspire Arsenal to a stunning three nil victory over reigning champions Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. The England midfielder, known more for his midfield control than set piece […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":63993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-63992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63994,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63992\/revisions\/63994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}