Goalkeeper David Raya turned into a hero for Arsenal by saving two spot-kicks and winning the match for his side.
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Arsenal got past FC Porto in dramatic fashion to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The Gunners had lost the first leg 1-0 away from home. In the second leg, they levelled the score on aggregate through Leandro Trossard’s goal just before half time. However, the home side were unable to add to that tally, largely due to the visitors’ impeccable defending. As a result, the round-of-16 contest headed into a penalty shootout.
Goalkeeper David Raya turned into a hero for Arsenal by saving two spot-kicks and winning the match for his side. After the Champions League contest, manager Mikel Arteta was ecstatic with the triumph. He was happy with the character shown by his side, especially their keeper Raya. “Magic, what we expected, a really tough opponent, really well organised, very difficult to generate constant momentum in the game in the way they play and that’s credit to them,” Arteta, quoted on Arsenal.com, said after the match.
He added: “We did it, we scored a beautiful goal, they insisted in different ways, in the way the game allowed as well, and it’s such a huge experience for us. We had to do it at the end with the penalties, we prepared well, and credit to the coaches as well for the way they did it and obviously for David [Raya]. He had some difficult moments to start but he stood up, had an incredible personality and ambition, and at the end he got rewarded with his moment.”
Speaking about the impact this result can have on his squad, the manager said, “For them to do it when the club hasn’t managed to do it for 14 years, it tells you the difficulty of it. When the margins are so small, we found a way to do it again. I see how much they want it, and how much they try, they are able to sacrifice anything to win and when you play like this at the end it’s going to come your way sooner or later and it happened tonight.”
Arteta then went back to praising Raya’s performance, as he spoke about what he liked a lot about the keeper. Asked about Raya’s performance proving his worth, he replied, “I don’t have to see him today, I was very convinced that was going to be the case. You see in the first few days here and what he had to go through and how he did it with that composure. You look at his body language, and the position that he takes, he doesn’t get very affected and that’s a key quality for a goalkeeper.”
The manager also reserved special praise for the supporters and believed they had an impact in the result. Asked whether he has experienced an atmosphere like this before, Arteta replied, “Probably not, it was amazing – from the start to the end. When they have to do that extra at the end with the penalties, apart from bringing that, they were so smart in the way they did it, and the way they helped us. A huge thank you because with them we are much better and I think today they have impacted the game in a really strong way.”
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