‘He should be’: Neville says Arsenal star was right to be annoyed with himself in first-half vs Man United

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Gary Neville has suggested that Declan Rice should have been disappointed with himself after heading over the bar in the opening 20 minutes for Arsenal in their clash with Manchester United.

Neville was speaking on Sky Sports (broadcast on 3/9; 16:48) after Bukayo Saka provided his England teammate with an amazing opportunity to break the deadlock.

Declan Rice very nearly had his first Arsenal goal in the first-half at the Emirates on Sunday. Arsenal had Erik ten Hag’s men under so much pressure in the early stages.

Bukayo Saka put in one of the many corners the Gunners had during their spell on top. And one fell almost perfectly to Rice between the posts, just outside the six-yard box.

Neville critical of Rice after miss

The 24-year-old made very good contact with the cross. However, he managed to send it some way over the bar.

It was immediately clear how annoyed Rice was to miss the chance. And Gary Neville suggested that he should have done a lot better with the opportunity to put the Gunners ahead.

“He’s disappointed, and he should be, Declan Rice,” he told Sky Sports. “It’s a really good sighting of it and he comes across Dalot. It might just be a touch high for him.”

Rice became more of a goalscoring threat in the last few years for West Ham. He scored 10 times across his final two seasons in all competitions with the Hammers.

And he did not have to wait too long for that first Arsenal goal. It was his strike in stoppage-time that ultimately found its way past Andre Onana to give the Gunners a massive three points.

The goal sent the Emirates into a frenzy and Rice found himself in the middle of a massive crowd of bodies as the players and fans embraced.

It was a special afternoon for Arsenal. And they will hope that that proves to be the turning point after a somewhat underwhelming start to the campaign.