Declan Rice shows true colours with William Saliba Arsenal red card verdict after Bournemouth loss

Midway through the second half, with 10-man Arsenal a goal down, Declan Rice was seen demanding his teammates to stay alert and keep position as Bournemouth pressed for a second.

It was a mistake from Leandro Trossard that led to William Saliba’s red card and Rice was getting frustrated at some of the sloppiness that followed given what had happened. His worst fears came to fruition soon after.

Jakub Kiwior - who had come on for Raheem Sterling in the first half to counter-balance Saliba’s dismissal - left his back pass to David Raya short. Evanilson, the man Saliba had felled, nipped in and was tripped by the goalkeeper to win the spot kick.

Justin Kluivert’s conversion killed any hopes of an Arsenal revival and Kiwior was subjected to the dreaded double substitution, taken off a few minutes later. Rice was one of few players who left the field at full-time with credit.

He has already become a leader at Arsenal and is a clear candidate for the captaincy should Martin Odegaard ever move on. The role of eventual vice-captain seems inevitable.

Rice gave evidence for this during his post-match interview. The midfielder has only been at Arsenal just over a year but was not afraid to call out his teammates after yet another set of match-changing errors.

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"We've kicked ourselves in the foot three times in eight games and we got away with it at home to Brighton and away at Manchester City," he told Sky Sports. "Bournemouth kept probing and made it 2-0.

"I'm proud of the players for fighting, even with 10 men, but the naivety, we need to stop making mistakes because you want 11 players for 90 minutes and that's what wins you football matches."

Rice added: "With 10 men we showed a lot of character and personality to stay in the game. The big chance was [Gabriel] Martinelli's and the keeper read it and made a great save and one minute later, normally a routine we are so strong at, has done us.

"We can't make silly mistakes. You need all your best players on the pitch at all times. The belief is so high and we will stick together. This is football, whatever happens the most important thing is that you stick together and stay in the right direction."

The perfect riposte to a difficult night. Direct, punchy but unifying.

Arsenal have been the bridesmaids over the last two title races and Rice knows his side need not caught up in any more dramatic affairs. The Gunners need to be on their best behaviour from now on, and Rice will look to see to that.