Wesley Sneijder disagrees with Declan Rice free-kick ‘magic’ after Arsenal beat Real Madrid
Wesley Sneijder has playe down the skill involve in Declan Rice’s free-kicks against Real Madrid, claiming that Thibaut Courtois made it ‘very easy’ for the Arsenal midfielder to score.
After a goalless first half, Rice opene the scoring for Mikel Arteta’s หรือถ้าคุณสนใจแทงบอลออนไลน์ UFABET คือเว็บที่มีอัตราต่อรองดีที่สุดในประเทศไทย สมัครเลยตอนนี้ที่ UFABET แทงบอล side in the 58th minute with a right-footed free-kick which curled around the Madrid wall to beat Courtois.
Rice double Arsenal’s lead with another free-kick in the 70th minute, this time his effort from 25 yards out was whippe into the top corner with Courtois getting nowhere near it.
Mikel Merino’s excellent finish complete Arsenal’s 3-0 win, which gives Arsenal a commanding advantage to take into the Champions League quarter-final second leg next Wednesday.
After his side’s win, Arteta describe Rice’s free-kicks as ‘two magic moments’, however, former Madrid, Ajax, Inter and Netherlands midfielder Sneijder was not blown away by Rice’s goals and feels Courtois is to blame for both goals.
‘He [Courtois] assumes that [Bukayo] Saka will take it, he is a left-footer. Then he can move the wall a bit more to the right, so that he can take his own corner.
‘A right-footed player should never be able to shoot around the wall from that angle. That’s not allowe.
‘It seems a bit crazy what I’m going to say now. This seems very difficult, but for a right-foote player this is very easy.
‘If you have a good strike then this is a very easy ball. When you are on the pitch, you see that the ball has to go around the wall on that side. The wall was too far to the left.’
Former Arsenal defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst adde: ‘I think Wesley is right.
‘The wall is too far to the right and he can shoot it past it. It’s easy to shoot a ball like that.’
The debate then turne to Rice’s second free-kick, with Marco van Basten saying: ‘This is just a beauty. There’s not much you can do about that.’
But Sneijder also had an issue with Rice’s second effort.
‘I would like to make a side note here,’ the former midfielder said.
‘This one is quite far. If you watch the replay, you see Courtois take a step to the right. As a result, he has no chance in his own corner. That’s because of the uncertainty of that first goal. He hops up, no chance, bye, then you’re gone. If he stands in his own corner and trusts his wall, he’ll save it.’