Declan Rice revels in ‘special’ goal after Arsenal extend lead at top of table

Declan Rice described his thumping header in Arsenal’s 2-0 win at Burnley as a “very special goal” after it helped his side extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.

The England midfielder powered home Leandro Trossard’s pin-point cross into the top corner at the end of a clinical first-half counter-attack after Viktor Gyokeres had given them an early lead.

Rice told Arsenal’s official website: “Special, very, very special goal. Just because of the whole sequence of play, I think my goal might be looked at in terms of the run from me and how I headed it in the back of the net.

“But we’ve defended a long throw from here.  Big Gabi’s headed the ball like his life depends on it and then we’ve broken and the whole team reacts to that situation.

“When teams play really, really deep and set against us, these are the best moments to score when they’re open. We took advantage of that and to score a header like a traditional number nine, I was happy.”

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said his side’s first-half display was “one of the best we have played” before they sat deeper in the second period, with one eye on Tuesday’s Champions League tie in Prague.

Rice also delivered another superb corner for Gyokeres to convert from close range and extend Arsenal’s league-leading set-piece goals tally this season, excluding penalties, to 12.

“First half, we were very, very good,” Rice added. “Could have been three or four.

“Second half wasn’t our best performance, but showed that other side of the game where we can be resilient, where we can defend for our lives and it really means something by not letting the ball go in the back of our net.”

Burnley had won their two previous league games to climb out of the bottom three, but were unable to lay a glove on Arteta’s side.

The Clarets mustered just one effort on goal in the entire match – a wayward second-half Florentino Luis header – before substitute Marcus Edwards’ free-kick hit a post deep in stoppage time.

Burnley worked hard in a bid to build second-half pressure and boss Scott Parker had no complaints against a side he believes can win their first Premier League title since 2004.

“There’s many a team that have had their struggles against them,” Parker said.

“They’re just a very, very good team, a team that I believe has every single ingredient to go and win the league this season, in every facet of their game, defensively, attacking-wise and set-plays.

“They’re a top, top team and we just fell a little bit short.”

Parker added: “I’m immensely proud of the team second half, they did everything we asked.

“That’s not me trying to be ultra-positive around a situation, that’s the cold hard facts. I thought we made a game of it second half.”