Declan Rice says he was really impressed with £12m Arsenal player last night

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Declan Rice has singled out Jorginho for praise after Arsenal picked up a win at Selhurst Park last night.

Rice spoke to Arsenal’s official website after helping his side to a 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace on Monday night.

The 24-year-old was a standout performer for the Gunners and picked up the Player of the Match award.

Martin Odegaard’s strike from the penalty spot proved to be the difference between the sides but the Gunners had to withstand huge pressure from Palace towards the end of the game.

Arsenal had dominated before Takehiro Tomiyasu picked up a second yellow card in the 67th minute.

Mikel Arteta turned to Jorginho from the bench just 10 minutes after the red card in an attempt to regain some control of the game. And it’s fair to say that Rice was impressed with the Italian’s cameo display.

Rice impressed with Jorginho

Speaking to Arsenal’s media team after last night’s win, Rice singled out Jorginho for praise 

“Before the game we knew how big coming to Selhurst Park is, especially at the start of the season,” he said.

“We needed to keep the momentum going, up until when we went down to 10 men we were in complete control, dominated the game, passed the ball so well, and should’ve been two-up in the first half. To score in the second half was really nice and then to hold on with the resilience we showed was perfect.

“If you looked on the pitch, everyone is driving each other. We went into a back three, and the lads didn’t stop talking, Jorgi came on and he was brilliant, he kept pushing and demanding. It’s about seeing the game out.

“They suck the goals in behind the goal here, and they’re a full force when they’re at it so to nullify them and not let them score tonight on their first home game of the season was a big plus.”

Jorginho arrived at Arsenal for a £12 million fee back in January as he made the switch across London from Chelsea.

The Italian veteran put in some brilliant displays under Arteta towards the back end of the last campaign. But he looks set to play a lesser role after the arrival of Rice.

Yet, he showed just how important he could be to Arteta moving forward with an assured display from the bench last night.