Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya has expressed his determination to grow from his mistakes after a lapse in judgment allowed Spurs to gain ground in this weekend’s north London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Despite the Gunners commanding a formidable three-goal advantage over their rivals at halftime, with Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz both netting along with a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg own goal in the 15th minute, Raya’s costly mistake in the second half provided Spurs with an opportunity.
In a moment of carelessness, Raya inadvertently passed the ball directly to Cristian Romero, who capitalised on the chance from the edge of the box, giving the hosts a glimmer of hope.
Son Heung-min maintained his composure from the penalty spot, adding tension to the match’s climax. This pivotal moment arose when Declan Rice committed a foul against Ben Davies within the penalty area. Despite Tottenham’s late onslaught, Arsenal managed to withstand the pressure, securing a narrow 3-2 victory.
The outcome intensified the competition at the top, placing Manchester City under scrutiny ahead of their encounter with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. Pep Guardiola’s squad promptly answered the challenge, narrowing the gap to just one point behind the leaders.
Last season’s triumphant treble winners possess a game in hand over Arsenal as they prepare to face 11th-placed Wolves at the Etihad in their forthcoming fixture.
In his post-match briefing, Arsenal’s manager, Mikel Arteta, came to the defense of Raya following his second-half mistake. Arteta lauded the goalkeeper’s remarkable response to the error, describing it as ‘sensational.’
“It’s part of football,’ Arteta told reporters when asked about Raya’s mistake that led to Romero’s goal.
“It’s a sequence of play, I don’t like it, I don’t like the principles that we apply in that moment and the orientation of the ball.
“After that, that can happen, you misjudge the situation, you try to make the pass and you don’t and you are in doubt. They scored to take advantage of that.
“The penalty is another principle inside the box that you cannot do. It’s part of football.
“What I love is that David does that [the mistake], he picks Gabriel Magalhaes up – that is quite heavy! – and then he was sensational in the last 20 to 25 minutes of the game.
“This is what I love about our players.”
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During a post-match interview with Sky Sports, Raya contended that errors are simply a component of football, yet he offered assurance to Arsenal fans that he would glean lessons from the encounter.
“I’ve learned from making mistakes. If you don’t make mistakes, you don’t learn. It’s part of football, everybody makes mistakes,’ Raya said.
“But the thing is, when the ‘keeper makes a mistake, is normally it is a goal and it’s more seen, more talked [about] compared to a striker missing a tap-in or whatever.
“But it’s just part of football and you learn from that, that’s the most important thing. You just learn from the mistakes.”
Ian Wright showed little compassion for Raya as he pondered the Spaniard’s impulsive action in the SuperSport studio, emphasizing how the ‘rash’ decision might have jeopardised Arsenal on a different occasion.
‘I was really pleased with the way they were so in control of what they needed to do, especially once Tottenham got back into the game,’ the legendary ex-Arsenal striker said.
“They’ve done so well to get to this point. You can’t do rash things which is what the we saw the goalkeeper do, unfortunately.
“Even the penalty that we had given away was quite a rash decision to make from Declan [Rice], simply because of where the ball is. There’s going to be a player in and around it and you’ve got to be a lot more careful about that.”