Declan Rice had a fantastic reaction upon learning that Liverpool had dropped points against Newcastle United. On Wednesday night, Rice started in the Arsenal midfield during their match against Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium, where goals from Jurrien Timber and William Saliba secured a crucial 2-0 victory for Mikel Arteta’s side.

To add to the joy of the win, Liverpool, the Premier League leaders, dropped two valuable points after a late equalizer from Fabian Schar secured a 3-3 draw at St. James’ Park.

Immediately after the final whistle, Rice was interviewed by Amazon Prime Video and was informed about Liverpool’s result. When told, “The other bit of good news, Liverpool drew tonight, they dropped points, so you’ve closed that gap,” Rice responded, “Yeah, it’s good, but look, people get carried away with the title talk. I was involved in my first one last year. You just need to be in and around it by February; it’s too early to be calling what’s going on. It’s closed up, but there’s still a long way to go. We’ll keep believing in ourselves.”

With this victory, Arsenal remains third in the table with 28 points, trailing Chelsea on goal difference, while Liverpool stays at the top with 35 points.

Dimitar Berbatov has labeled Arsenal “the new Stoke City” after Mikel Arteta’s team scored two more goals from set-pieces against Manchester United.

On Wednesday night, Arsenal closed the gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool by two points, winning 2-0 while Liverpool drew 3-3 with Newcastle. Chelsea sits in between them, matching Arsenal’s points but having a superior goal difference after a 5-1 victory over Southampton.

While Liverpool remains the favorite to win the Premier League, Arsenal is closely following, largely due to their effectiveness in dead-ball situations. Since the start of last season, they have scored 22 goals from set-pieces, the highest in the league, and continued their success with two more goals from corners on Wednesday.

Berbatov’s comments draw a comparison between Arsenal’s current style and the physical approach of Tony Pulis’ Stoke City, known for their robust play in the Premier League.

Probably the Premier League is the only league in the world where you have so many players around the goalkeeper, pushing, shoving, making chaos,” former Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov said on Amazon Prime Video. “Normally, it would be a foul. Not here. You need to be strong. That’s probably why he (Ruben Amorim) was watching from the side, thinking, ‘What is going on with my keeper?’ You need to work on that. As we joke, Arsenal is the new Stoke City, right? Relying on set-pieces can secure you the win, just as it did today.”

Gabriel has scored three Premier League goals from set-pieces this season, but his absence due to a minor knock wasn’t felt on Wednesday. Jurrien Timber opened the scoring with a header from Declan Rice’s cross, followed by William Saliba adding a second, as United struggled to cope with Arsenal’s set-piece threat.

Stoke City, under Tony Pulis from 2006 to 2013, was known for its physicality, often using Rory Delap’s long throw as a key weapon to create chances.

After the match, Rice reflected on their success, saying, “When you go up for a corner, it’s a chance to score, so to score both from corners, our set-piece coach Nico will be buzzing, and I’m really happy. I know the weight I need to put on the ball, and it’s all about repetition. I put in a few good balls and could’ve had a couple of assists, so it was nice to get one.”

Arsenal’s first goal came from a corner taken by Declan Rice, which Jurrien Timber converted, while the second, scored by William Saliba, marked the 22nd goal Arsenal has netted from dead balls since the start of last season.

United’s manager Amorim commented, “The set-pieces changed the game. We could’ve been more aggressive towards the Arsenal box. Until the set-pieces, the game didn’t have too many opportunities for either side; the set-pieces killed it. They can put a lot of players near the goalkeeper, making it almost impossible to contest for the ball, but we need to manage how to defend them better. We were committed, but we lost due to the set-pieces.