David Raya saves Arsenal
Arsenal is doing it the toughest way possible. Matches that should have been finished off in the first half an hour are being taken to the last 10 minutes and then into added time. One is never sure if this is self-inflicted misery or a sign of a team that can grind out results.
Brighton came to the Emirates looking to prove a point. It was the Gunners though who began brightly. They should have been clear by at least three goals by halftime, given their domination and the shots they took on goal. It was not to be, and it took one of the best saves this season to keep them winning.
Injuries still haunt the Gunners and the back line is what is afflicted now. As the troops up front return from injury, the defensive line looks shredded. Nothing showcases it better than seeing the best midfielder in town Declan Rice turn up as a right back to cover for Jurrien Timber and Ben White.
In a match report, a lot can be written about the match; but the only moment that needs mentioning on this day is when, with 15 minutes left on the clock, David Raya produced a moment of magic.
After a period of Brighton possession, substitute Yankuba Minteh found himself with space and a clear sight of the goal at the top of the box. Raya was on his toes waiting for that moment when a goalkeeper decides which way, how high or low and how far to dive.
Minteh’s eyes lit up; this was a perfect practice pitch moment for him. He knew the drill like second nature, shift your weight to the right leg, lean back ever so lightly, and with a flick of the ankle send the ball spinning away. The ball would do the rest, it would climb, then dip and curl ever so lightly into the top corner or thereabouts.
Raya was the one who had to do the tricky part if he had to make the save. Watch the ball from the feet, see it climb, judge how high it would go before curling and dipping and then leap to make sure that his fingertips reach the ball to help it over the post. It was a matter of inches and seconds. That is all modern-day goalkeepers have. Margins are thin like skin in that fleeting moment.
When the ball left his feet, Minteh must have thought that he had got his team level. In a few seconds, he would have been running away to the corner flag, chased by his beaming teammates.
But then, it was to be David Raya’s day today.
His toes lifted him off the ground, and just before the ball passed him, he managed to reach that exact point in the cold evening air at Emirates that would help him get an ever-so-slight touch, which would take the ball over the crossbar.
No matter how good your teammates protecting the space in front of you are, that moment is all about just you and the ball, both in the air and both capable of altering the result. Raya’s gloved finger tips arrived in time, and he brought off a save that was as good as any goal Arsenal would score at the other end.
It was this magical moment that saved the day and two points, and could be a defining moment if, at the end of the season, Arsenal do win the League.
The last few matches have been about own goals from opponents, and this great save. Of the many things Arsenal strikers have to do, one surely is to find their scoring boots from wherever they have lost them, tighten the laces and score some goals.
Raya may not save the day like this the next time. Beware of the dreaded law of averages.
At the end of the last week of the year, Arsenal maintains its position at the top, with the relentless Manchester City and an effervescent Aston Villa right behind. Almost halfway through the season, this could be anybody’s title. It is all about who keeps their nerves.
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