Rice spoke to TNT Sports following the defeat and labelled the loss as “devastating” – but drew comfort from the progress his side have made this season. “An incredible season, given absolutely everything up to this point,” he said. “We took the game to penalties and it’s a lottery. You either win on pens or lose on pens, some of the best teams ever have lost on penalties in finals and we were on the receiving end of that tonight.”
“That happens in football, they’re not going to be the last players to miss penalties in finals. Everyone’s missed a penalty and without them two this season we wouldn’t have won the Premier League, that’s for sure. Gabriel, I’ve run out of words for him as a person, as a player, and [Eberechi] Eze as well, the crucial goals he’s come up with for us this year. It happens, it’s football, it’s cruel. We take the positives and we’ll keep going.”
🎥| Ben White gets Declan Rice to sing ‘Rice Rice Baby’ 🤣 #afcpic.twitter.com/SFVVDaWUaA
— Arsenal Buzz (@ArsenalBuzzCom) May 31, 2026