<figure id="attachment_3281805" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3281805" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3281805" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/c01ee826-declan-rice-epa-130226.webp" alt="declan rice" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3281805" class="wp-caption-text">Declan Rice said the team have managed well so far and, despite the talk surrounding the title race, they must remain calm. (EPA Images pic)</figcaption></figure>
LONDON: Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said his side cannot be distracted by talk of Manchester City closing in at the top of the Premier League after the Gunners were held 1-1 at Brentford on Thursday.
City are now just four points behind Mikel Arteta&#8217;s men and have home advantage when the sides meet in April.
Arsenal are aiming to end a 22-year wait to win the title and appeared to be cruising towards success when they moved nine points clear on Saturday.
However, City&#8217;s late fightback to snatch a 2-1 victory at Liverpool on Sunday could prove a turning point in the title race.
Pep Guardiola&#8217;s men maintained their momentum by beating Fulham 3-0 in midweek and Arsenal failed to respond.
Noni Madueke gave the visitors the lead in west London, but Brentford hit back through Keane Lewis-Potter and were unfortunate not to claim all three points in the final 20 minutes.
&#8220;This is a rollercoaster of a season. You can&#8217;t be naive to think this is going to be easy,&#8221; said England international Rice.
&#8220;We are playing against the best teams week in, week out. We have to keep pushing and believing in ourselves, controlling the controllable.
&#8220;We have to block out the outside noise. We have done that really well. People are going to talk up the title race, but we have a really calm group.
&#8220;I&#8217;m not naive to think Brentford are a pushover. They are one of the best teams in the league and their recent form shows that. It&#8217;s a point gained in our journey, but we wanted to win the game.&#8221;
Arteta was frustrated at how his side let control of the game get away from them after a positive start to the second half.
&#8220;We lacked composure to maintain the ball better, to play in the right areas. We started to give a lot of unnecessary free-kicks away,&#8221; said Arteta.
Arsenal&#8217;s strength from set-pieces has played a huge role in putting them into pole position for the title.
But they struggled to cope with Brentford&#8217;s own prowess from dead balls.
The equaliser arrived from one of Michael Kayode&#8217;s long-throws, propelled into the box, that Sepp van den Berg flicked on for Lewis Potter to head in.
&#8220;They are really good at it, so credit to them as well,&#8221; Arteta said.
&#8220;They drag you into a game where it&#8217;s like a casino. Anything can happen and something really bad can happen!&#8221;

MatchPoint Times

Arsenal must avoid distractions in the ‘rollercoaster’ title race, says Rice

Arsenal are aiming to end a 22-year wait to win the title and appeared to be cruising towards success when they moved nine points clear on Saturday.

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