Rice Backs Kane for Ballon d’Or After Arsenal’s 2-2 Draw with Bayern

Declan Rice says he is delighted after his late equaliser earned Arsenal a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and he thinks the result was a fair one, even if Arsenal felt they could have had more.

"I'm so happy," Rice told TNT Sports. "When you play against teams like Bayern that are man-to-man all over the pitch, you have to apply certain principles. I just kept running, lost my marker and I was in on goal to score."

The Arsenal midfielder drilled a low shot into the bottom corner after swapping passes with substitute Viktor Gyokeres. Rice was quick to credit the striker for the assist. 

"He's been making such a good impact coming off the bench. He's made some great runs tonight and he's obviously set me up for the goal. It's such a tough game for 95 minutes and you're constantly thinking about where you can move into space. For the goal, Noni (Madueke) has had one touch, Viktor too. Those little movements get you in."

Rice called the game a great show, but said the team wanted a bit more. "It was a great spectacle but we feel we could probably have had more. Manuel Neuer's made some great saves, but so did David (Raya). The manager has drilled into us for the last two days we're not just coming in to sit and hit on the counter - we wanted to match them all over the pitch. At home, they're one of the best teams in Europe with Paris. On to the next one and we keep going."

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He also had warm words for his England team-mate Harry Kane, who scored a penalty and set up Alphonso Davies for Bayern's first goal. Rice believes Kane should win the Ballon d'Or. 

"For me, he's the clear winner. His numbers speak for themselves. 

"The year he's had has been remarkable. He's obviously up against some other world-class players but when you play with him, you realise how good he is - and when you play against him, you see how much of a pain it is. For a striker to play that pass for their first goal then take the penalty how he did... he's ridiculous, he's such a good player."

It was a costly night for Arsenal in other ways. Bukayo Saka limped off after just 10 minutes with a suspected thigh problem, after he tried to play a pass with no one around him. His replacement, Eberechi Eze, scored the opener in the 35th minute from a Martin Odegaard pass, after the VAR stepped in to overturn an offside flag.

Bayern were behind for only 10 minutes before Kane split the Arsenal defence for Davies to finish. Kane then put the hosts in front from the spot after his shot hit Jurrien Timber's hand inside the area.

Arsenal pushed for a winner after Rice's goal, and Timber forced Manuel Neuer into an acrobatic save before the final whistle.