Champions League
David Raya’s Save Was Best I’ve Seen In My Career – Says Mikel Arteta
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, hailed his goalkeeper David Raya after the Spaniard’s miraculous double save earned his side a 0-0 draw away to Atalanta in the Champions League on Thursday.
Had Raya not saved Mateo Retegui’s penalty in the 51st minute and then miraculously leaped to deny the same player’s follow-up header, Arsenal might have started their group-stage games with a damaging defeat.
“I witnessed two of the best saves I’ve ever seen in my career from David in that moment,” Arteta said.
“If you can’t win, you have to take the point. We started well, then we lost control and were very inconsistent. We didn’t suffer defensively, apart from the penalty.”
Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini was equally in awe. “He’s a cat. The first save is good but the rebound is unbelievable. The goalkeeper has been crucial,” the Italian coach said.
Raya downplayed his performance, attributing his success to luck, and expressed his gratitude to Arsenal’s goalkeeping coach, Inaki Cana, whom he consulted while VAR reviewed the penalty decision.
“It was a long time to decide if it was a penalty, so I took the decision to go to the side, and I went to speak with the goalie coach about where to go and where not to go,” he said.
“He helped me a lot in every aspect so credit to him.”
While it was a solid start by Arsenal, Arteta was less happy with his team’s performance as they offered little in the way of an attacking threat against last season’s Europa League winners.
“We had moments with the ball but we never got it into dominance or threat,” he said.
“The first 25 minutes, we read their approach well. After that, we lost control of the game.”
