As the rain hammered down upon the Emirates Stadium turf on Tuesday night and Arsenal fans grew restless over their Champions League hopes, there was one man calmer than anyone else during the shoot-out.
So he should have been after being signed for a £105m transfer fee last summer. Up stepped Declan Rice. This was his first penalty for the club by the way, but the midfielder stroked it home like, dare we say, James Ward-Prowse.
The latter has been known as a set piece specialist throughout his career and incidentally was tasked with replacing Rice at West Ham, but it is the Arsenal star who is beginning to show his colours in that aspect of the game too.
The Gunners didn't just have their record buy to thank against Porto a few days ago, despite his cool and composed penalty but it was another radiant display from a player who just seems to be getting better and better.
Has £105m ever looked like a bargain? In the case of Rice, it certainly seems that way.
Declan Rice's season in numbers
What can you say about the England international that hasn't already been said? Very little. He is one of the most elite midfielders in the game and has taken Arsenal to a brand new level this term.
With Thomas Partey injured and Jorginho not in the frame regularly at the beginning of the season he was tasked with playing as a lone holding midfielder. This didn't faze the 25-year-old who was just been magnificent in such a role.
Among positionally similar players in the division, Rice ranks among the best 6% for progressive passes per 90 minutes, the top 4% for total carrying distance and the best 13% for percentage of dribblers tackled.
For want of a better word, the former West Ham man is a machine. He strides forward with immense purpose, can pick out a pass and pivotally for a player in his position, breaks up the play.
However, in 2024 Rice has stepped up in other ways. He's become one of Arsenal's main set-piece takers, delivering corners from the left-hand side and free-kicks from either side. As such, he now has seven assists for the club, five of which have come this calendar year.
With Jorginho alongside him, he's been granted the license to play further forward and as a result, has now scored three goals in his last five matches. Such form is the most prolific of Rice's career and it only goes to show the immense qualities at his disposal. On the evidence of the above, the summer signing has it all.
Rice could well go on to become a legend in north London and won't be dislodged anytime soon, but the Gunners do have a similar sort of player lingering in the Hale End setup.
Arsenal's next Declan Rice
The name we should be focusing our attention on is 20-year-old midfielder Jack Henry-Francis.
The youngster isn't a player who's getting the same attention as a certain Ethan Nwaneri, or Charlie Patino for that matter but he is clearly a player that Arsenal rates highly.
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Called up to train with the first team as early as 17-years-old, the London-born Irish youth international has qualities that make him an enticing project for the coaching staff at London Colney. Interesting to note is that one appearance alongside the senior team sparked a fight caught on camera by the All or Nothing team filming the club's Amazon Prime documentary.
Alexandre Lacazette launched a tackle on the then-teenager which right-back Cedric didn't take much of a liking to, sparking quite the scuffle.
More importantly, though, is what makes him like Rice. Well, the club's official website describes him as not only an "aggressive and tenacious tackler" but a "box-to-box energetic midfielder". That could quite aptly describe Arsenal's record signing too.
The trouble is that there has been a stark lack of opportunities to gain senior minutes. Henry-Francis made his first-team bow, although not in a competitive sense, against Hibernian in pre-season ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.
Since then, he has not been included in a first-team squad, not even for a cup game. That perhaps doesn't bode quite well for making a breakthrough but he has been notably impressive in 2023/24 for the U23s.
The young midfielder has shown he can pop up with attacking contributions, like Rice, scoring three goals and supplying two assists. Two of those involvements came against Exeter City in the EFL Trophy.
During that game, Henry-Francis supplied three key passes as a marker of his creativity while making four tackles and winning seven duels to outline his physicality and defensive confidence.
A loan spell would be of great benefit next season if he's to take his game to the next level. As seen against Exeter, he can clearly do it against Football League opposition.
