Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice says his side could have scored 10 goals against Tottenham in the north London derby.
The Gunners emerged 2-1 winners thanks to an own goal from Dominic Solanke and a strike from Leandro Trossard.
That moves Mikel Arteta’s men back into second place, four points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand at the top of the Premier League table.
Speaking after the match, Rice said: “You can say tonight meant more than anything. From the first minute, the first half was pure domination. We showed the intention, the pressure, the desire, you could say it was a derby. I think we were probably unlucky not to score 10 tonight. It’s the feeling.
“You don’t need a message. When you play Spurs you know what it means to the fans. As a player, if you can’t defend Spurs, you shouldn’t be playing football. You have to have that fire in your belly.
“In the second half, the match became tense. Maybe they could have scored a few, but we could have scored five or six more – that’s what’s disappointing.
“The three points are the most important thing. I hope we can now race because it is the most important part of the season.
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“We’re unlucky, we probably didn’t score 10 tonight”
Declan Rice reflects on Arsenal’s North London Derby victory 👀
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Despite Rice’s comments, Arsenal only managed an xG of 1.64, suggesting they were more clinical than useless in front of goal.
But they still took all three points and Arteta was a happy man in his post-match interview.
He added: “Exceptional today. From the first minute we were really into it, really intense. We played with a real objective: to hurt them. We created an incredible atmosphere.
“We know how important the game is. It’s a gift that can make supporters very happy.
“The attitude we played with, without feeling sorry for ourselves, was phenomenal. We played 120 minutes three days ago.
“We had big chances and big situations. In the end, we had to suffer more than we wanted.
“When you have opportunities [to close the gap] you have to take them. We are on a very regular run in the Premier League. It’s about recovery tomorrow and Aston Villa on Saturday, it’s up and down.
