Declan Rice shows true Arsenal colours with Mikel Merino message after 'world-class' hat-trick

Declan Rice has congratulated Mikel Merino for scoring a hat-trick during Spain's 6-0 win over Turkey. The Arsenal midfielder fired Luis de la Fuente's side to victory at the Konya Metropolitan Municipality Stadium on Sunday night as they extended their perfect start to the World Cup qualifying campaign.

Merino - who has now scored six goals in his last six matches for Spain - opened his account inside the opening half an hour, finishing off a trademark punchy passing sequence. The 29-year-old doubled his tally for the evening shortly before half-time.

Then, on the hour mark, Merino lifted supporters from their seats, wrapping the ball into net from 20-yards to complete his hat-trick. The European champions have now won each of their opening World Cup qualifiers, and they sit at the top of Group E.

After the game, the Arsenal midfielder marked the victory with a celebratory post on Instagram, which eclipsed 100,000 likes. Declan Rice joined Jurrien Timber, William Saliba and Fermin Lopez in the comment section, writing: "Incredible [clapping emoji]."

The Spain manager showered Merino with praise in his post-match press conference. De la Fuenta said: "We have fantastic players, and he (Merino) is another example of a footballer who does many things well, who's a genius, a world-class player, and who sometimes doesn't get the recognition in Spain.

"He's one of the best in the world in his position. What we have are good people, who are humble and want to continue growing."

Merino, who was used as an emergency striker by Mikel Arteta last season, was delighted to have scored the first hat-trick of his career. As quoted by The Evening Standard, he said: "It's amazing. I'm buzzing about it.

"I'm really, really happy. It's my first hat-trick. I'm not used to scoring so many goals! Scoring three with the national team on a night like this, against a team this, is magical. It is a night I will remember for the rest of my life."

Merino went on: "Obviously when you face an opponent like Turkey, you know it's going to be a tough game. We knew we were coming here to a very tough atmosphere with crazy fans that are always supporting them.

"But at the same time, we are always confident that we are going to win every game. We didn't expect to win by six goals - but we had an amazing game, we played very well right from the start, respecting the opponent, giving our all and we were lucky enough to score a couple of goals."

Arteta will hope Merino can pick up from where he left off when Arsenal welcome Nottingham Forest to the Emirates Stadium this weekend.

Story Saved

You can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.