Michail Antonio admits 25-year-old Arsenal player wowed him in 6-0 defeat

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West Ham United forward Michail Antonio has spoken highly of Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice in wake of the Premier League meeting between the two clubs.

The West Ham ace, who played alongside Rice for many years at the London Stadium, hailed the Gunners man’s finish to make it 6-0 to the visitors.

Antonio, speaking on The Footballer’s Football Podcast, also shared what he and his Hammers teammates called Rice when he was at the club.

“He was on set pieces for us,” Antonio said on the podcast. “Mate, we called him Deccers because man has tekkers. And crazy tricks.

“The ball rolling back to him, whip. What a finish.”

Arsenal bounce back after two defeats by West Ham this season

Sunday’s game between West Ham and Arsenal was expected to be a closely-contested encounter, in wake of the Hammers’ two wins over the Gunners earlier this season.

Instead, it ended up being a one-sided affair, as Arsenal broke the deadlock just after the half-hour mark and never looked back.

Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Magalhaes and Leandro Trossard got on the scoresheet to effectively end the game as a contest by the break. Many West Ham fans left at that point.

Saka then scored his second on 63 minutes and, to really rub salt into the wound, Rice scored a superb effort not long after to make it 6-0.

Ben White played the ball out of the West Ham box, with Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard both leaving it / missing it (delete as appropriate).

Rice, who was just behind them, let rip with a first-time effort from around 25 yards out which gave the Hammers keeper no chance.

Declan Rice does the inevitable as Arsenal thrash West Ham

It was inevitable, wasn’t it? Rice to score against the Hammers. And to make things worse, it was an absolute worldie to add the cherry on top in a 6-0 thrashing at the London Stadium.

Credit to Rice though, he didn’t celebrate out of respect for his former club. And when he was substituted, he received a warm send-off from many in the crowd.

Arsenal paid West Ham over £100million for Rice, yet it still feels like a bargain. That’s how good he has been for the Gunners.