James Goldman
Published March 1, 2026 7:27pm
Updated March 1, 2026 7:38pm
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Declan Rice failed to last the 90 minutes against Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
Mikel Artea provided an update on Declan Rice was substituted with an apparent injury during the latter stages of Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea.
The England international played another significant role in a victory that restored the Gunners’ five-point lead at the top of the table.
Tasked with finding a response to Manchester City’s narrow win over Leeds United on Saturday, Arteta’s side looked to be on course for another home win when William Saliba put his side ahead midway through the opening half.
The two teams went in level at the break, however, when Piero Hincapie put through his own net on the stroke of the interval following a Reece James corner.
The Blues were the better team at the start of the second half, but Arsenal’s prowess at set-pieces proved decisive again when a perfectly flighted Rice corner was missed by Robert Sanchez and Jurrien Timber was on hand to nod home the winner.
Rice was on hand again shortly afterwards to go to snuff out a dangerous Chelsea break when he read the danger and outpaced Pedro Neto before appearing to strain a muscle attempting to pass the ball back to David Daya.
The 27-year-old soldiered on until the 76th minute when he was replaced by Christian Norgaard who helped his side get over the line and secure a narrow win.
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Declan Rice’s corner led to Jurrien Timber’s winning goal (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal face Brighton in midweek, 24 hours after City face struggling Nottingham Forest, and Arteta confirmed Rice will need to be checked before a decision on his availability is made.
He said: ”Declan asked to substituted so he is going to have to get checked and see if he is available for Wednesday, unfortunately.’
On the significance of a win that was anything but straighforward, the Arsenal manager added: ‘Big win, I’m very happy.
‘For big periods the team performed in an excellent way, the margin should have been bigger at half-time. The moment we conceded was painful, but the quality of Chelsea…
Jurrien Timber proved to be Arsenal’s matchwinner against Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
‘After their red card we should have managed that situation better but we will talk about this tomorrow.
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‘They have so much quality, even when they use the keeper they can get out of situation with 10 men. We didn’t adjust too well, sometimes you take things for granted. Something to improve there.
‘They [Chelsea] have players who can occupy various spaces – Cole [Palmer] can play false nine and occupy these spaces, he needs just one square metre to turn and activate players.
‘They have quality, big personalities, they are really well coached. They are so good a turning in tight spaces, Caicedo, Enzo [Fernandez], Cole. It’s impressive, they are a top side.’
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