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.
It 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 game, Rice said: “You can tell tonight meant more than anything else. From the first minute the first half was pure dominance. We showed the intent, the pressure, the desire, you could say it was a derby. I think we were probably unlucky not to score 10 tonight. That’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 stand up for Spurs then you shouldn’t be playing football. You have to have that fire in your belly.
“In the second half the game became tense. Maybe they could have scored a couple but we could have had five or six more – that’s the disappointing thing.
“The three points are the most important thing. Hopefully now we can go on a run because this 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 win 👀
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Despite Rice’s comments, Arsenal managed just 1.64 xG, suggesting they were more clinical than wasteful in front of goal.
But they got the three points and Arteta was a happy man in his post-match interview.
He added: “Outstanding today. From the first minute we were really into it, really intense. We played with real intent to hurt them. We created an incredible atmosphere.
“We know how important the game is. It is a gift that we can make the fans very happy.
“The attitude we played with, not feeling sorry for ourselves, was amazing. We played 120 minutes three days ago.
“We had some big chances and some 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 really solid run in the Premier League. It’s about recovery tomorrow and Aston Villa on Saturday, going and going.”
