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Ian Wright says one of Declan Rice’s Arsenal teammates showed ‘extreme quality’ against Real Madrid
Arsenal fans are in dreamland in wake of their incredible 3-0 win over Real Madrid in Tuesday night’s Champions League quarter-final first leg.
The Gunners were up against one of the biggest clubs in the world, not to mention the reigning Champions League holders, and some fans were nervous about how things would pan out.
However, Arsenal ended up putting Real Madrid to the sword, with Declan Rice scoring two wonderful hat-tricks and Mikel Merino wrapping up the scoring with a superb finish.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has now spoken about one of Rice’s teammates who showed “extreme quality” in Tuesday night’s clash at the Emirates Stadium.
READ MORE: Fans name the two Galacticos Declan Rice reminded them of in Arsenal win over Real Madrid
Ian Wright says Mikel Merino goal was ‘one of the best finishes you’ll ever see’ from a player who’s not a striker by trade
Wright, speaking on the Wrighty’s House podcast, admitted he loved Merino’s goal, deeming it “one of the best” finishes from a player who isn’t a striker by trade.
The Highbury legend spoke of how cleanly Merino caught the ball and curled it so expertly into the side netting against a goalkeeper the size of Thibaut Courtois.
“Yes, this is the best, one of the best finishes you’ll ever see how in the box from a player that’s supposedly not a centre forward,” said Wright.
“Everything what he’d done about that goal was extreme quality.
“The thing with it is that, once it came into him and again, what you have to appreciate is the weight of the pass into him by Miles Lewis-Skelly is perfect.
“Obviously Merino’s coming backwards knowing that the ball’s coming with the right amount of pace. The goalkeeper has to because the ball’s coming across. He has to go into the middle of his goal.
“So to catch it going backwards so cleanly and putting it back where it’s come from into the side netting with a goalkeeper the size of Courtois, honestly…
“This is why I was so pleased (Alan) Shearer was on last night because Shearer was saying that is an unbelievable finish.
“You know, it’s an unbelievable finish. The way he executed that, it was so good.”
Meanwhile, Owen Hargreaves said Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry would’ve been proud of Merino’s goal.
What Mikel Arteta has said about Mikel Merino’s character
Merino has exceeded expectations since being asked to fill in as a centre-forward at Arsenal, despite having never played or even trained in that position before February.
The Spaniard hit the ground running with a brace off the bench against Leicester City, and he is now on six goals from nine appearances up front.
Merino has also been playing in his regular midfield position over the past few weeks, which shows just how willing he is to do his bit for the Gunners in any position.
Mikel Arteta recently said of Merino: “He’s a joy to work with and that’s one of the reasons why we wanted to bring him to the club because he’s so versatile.
“He’s very intelligent and he loves the game and he loves to understand the game and the reason why we have certain players to do what we want them to do.”