Declan Rice bags first Champions League strike as Mikel Arteta turns to Arsenal midfield for goals in Dinamo Zagreb win

A quickfire goal from Declan Rice opened the scoring inside two minutes before Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard added the second and third to round off a vital win.

Rice’s strike was his first in the Champions League and with Arsenal still in need of a striker to take them to the next level, outsourcing goals to the midfielders has been vital for Mikel Arteta.

“The manager, he’s been on us really hard about midfielders arriving because so many goals can from there,” Rice said.

“It’s down to us to make up that extra five or 10 yards. Martin obviously did there right at the end of the game; I did for the header. Everyone’s contributing.

“I’m getting in the right positions when I play eight. I scored a good goal in the first half but was annoyed I didn’t get a second. I’ve got to be a bit more clinical. But to get my first Champions League goal, it’s taken me two seasons, but I’m so happy. Hopefully many more to come.”

Fellow goalscorer and club captain Martin Odegaard echoed Rice’s admission of how much Arteta pushes the Arsenal midfielders to find those chances.

“He’s always pushing us to be better,” the Norwegian added. “We want goals from the midfielders and I haven’t been good enough there this season. We spoke a lot about being in the right areas to attack that space like we did today. It’s hard to pick me up when I come from the midfield.

“I haven’t done good enough in front of goal. I’ve had a lot of chances, I’ve missed a lot and not been aggressive enough to get into the box. Today I was there, and the goal came.”

It’s imperative for Arsenal, in particular, that they qualify for the knockout rounds automatically. With an injury list that includes Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and William Saliba, any extra matches could prove disastrous for The Gunners.

It was only Odegaard’s second goal in all competitions this season, with the 26-year-old having spent time out with an ankle injury.

Manager Arteta could tell how much the goal meant to him with his celebration, noting that the midfielder unleashed “an anger” that had built up within him.

“Really good from Martin for his first goal,” the Spaniard said. “You could tell the way he celebrated that he had an anger and a desire to do it.”

Arteta also praised Rice for his score, calmly stating that the goals will come for the England international if he stays consistent in his positioning.

“Especially because in the last few games as well he had some big chances … the more he’s there, the more consistent he is in the positions. With the quality he has he will score a lot of goals.

“It’s a crucial month, we had nine games in this period, a really tough period. We go now to Wolves; we know how tough it’s going to be. Three days later, Girona, then City. We go game by game, make sure we recover, have as many players as we can, and we go again.”

TNT Sports pundit Karen Carney cited Rice and Odegaard’s goals as telling of the pressure that Arteta puts on his midfielders to provide goals.

“It’s great to see the midfield getting involved and getting on the scoresheet. It’s quite telling how the managers put a lot of pressure on them to get into the box in the final third and make an impact, and it did tonight.

“In the end, it was a very controlled performance and only one point now and they’re pretty much through.

The routine wins take Arsenal into third and essentially through to the next round. They face Girona who have struggled in their maiden Champions League journey with just one win to their name.

Like Zagreb, the Spanish side should be a routine win for Arsenal and Martin Keown believes the extra time not participating in a play-off match will be vital.

“They’re back into third place and looking comfortable. One more game to negotiate to get into the final eight, which is key of course.

“The number of injuries Arsenal have got, maybe there’s a couple of new signings that might turn up and they’ll appreciate a bit more time.

“It almost felt like a training ground game. Perfect in front of the fans, let’s get some confidence back and put the ball in the back of the net.

“Yes it got a bit difficult at the start of the second half, three substitutions and they addressed that quickly and sued the squad members.”