Declan is our dead-ball wizard, purrs Arteta

MIKEL ARTETA hailed Declan Rice’s set-piece precision after the former West Ham man inspired Arsenal to an emphatic victory over his old club. Rice provided two firsthalf assists from deadballs for William Saliba and Gabriel which opened the floodgates for the Gunners, before scoring an impressive goal of his own from outside the box. Arteta said: ‘I’m really happy with him. It was an emotional day for him because he loves West Ham so much. But he had to focus on the task and what he had to deliver. Set-pieces were one of those. ‘It’s always difficult to come back to your old club. The fans were really good to him. ‘When he went to take the corner they clapped him, so it’s great to see that kind of reception. ‘He loves this club so much and I know what it meant to him to play.’ This statement victory left Arteta believing that his team now have the momentum to be real title contenders, coming so soon after a crucial win over Liverpool. ‘We are maintaining and building momentum now,’ he said. ‘After the Liverpool game we had to show that we had that capacity to repeat that level or be better. ‘Performances and results have been strong in recent weeks. We need to maintain that because other teams are doing it too.’ Bukayo Saka scored twice and reached the 50-goal mark for Arsenal after he and his team ‘smelled blood’. ‘We were 4-0 up in the first half and could have scored many more,’ said Saka. ‘We smelled blood, we went for the kill. We did really well to score more. ‘I’m really happy to achieve that (50 goals) … but I’m not sure I can be happy today. I missed some chances I could have scored.’