11 February 2024 , 16:53
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Declan Rice refused to celebrate after scoring Arsenal's sixth goal as they thrashed his former club West Ham.
Rice completed a bumper £105million move to Arsenal over the summer and was booed by some home fans at the London Stadium. The midfielder was jeered by some supporters when his name was read out ahead of the game as well as when he got on the ball during the game.
There was a section of Hammers fans who did applaud Rice when he took a corner early on in the fixture, but they were largely drowned out by boos. And notorious Arsenal fan Piers Morgan branded the supporters who booed Rice "classless".
Taking to social media, he fumed: "So classless of West Ham fans to incessantly boo Declan Rice after all he did for their club." However, Rice was unaffected by the reception he got, with the 25-year-old scoring and bagging two assists in a dominant 6-0 win for the Gunners.
He assisted William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes' goals with excellent deliveries from set pieces, before getting in on the act and scoring an excellent long-range goal in the 66th minute. He did, however, refuse to celebrate against his former club as a mark of respect.
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"I've been in football for such a long time, things don't shock me any more," former Premier League midfielder Michael Brown said of the goal while on commentary for BBC Radio 5 Live. "It rolls even further away to Declan Rice.
"Is there something he can't do? He runs off with his arms down, he can't celebrate but inside there will be some fire and determination in him." However, when he was eventually taken off in the 67th minute, Rice did receive a much better reception from the Hammers fans.
Rice scored and provided two assists as Arsenal beat West Ham 6-0 (Getty Images)The result leaves Arsenal just two points behind league leaders Liverpool, who they beat 3-1 last season, and they remain firmly in the title race. A great day for Arsenal, they've come and produced," Brown added.
"After the result against Liverpool, questions were asked. Imagine that dressing room afterwards, they'll know they are in this title race. With the run of games they have, it's fantastic what Arsenal have made happen.
"You would expect them to continue to build on this and the longer this continues, the more the confidence builds." Arsenal are now set to take on Burnley next weekend, before travelling to Portugal for the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie against Porto.
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