“Fantastic” – Atalanta Boss Blown Away by one Arsenal Player as Ademola Lookman Calls Him “Incredible” After CL Clash
Atalanta’s boss Gian Piero Gasperini described Arsenal as “beautiful” before of Thursday’s Champions League opener.
However, as Tottenham Hotspur discovered last weekend and Manchester City are set to realise, Mikel Arteta’s team can be quite fierce when they need to be.
After limiting Spurs to an expected goals (XG) of just 0.7, with William Saliba and matchwinner Gabriel Magalhaes validating Rio Ferdinand’s claim of being the “best in Europe,” it was now Atalanta’s turn to face Arsenal’s formidable defence.
Typically known for their free-flowing, high-scoring style, Atalanta found themselves frustrated against Arsenal’s resilient backline.
On the rare occasions that Atalanta managed to penetrate Arsenal’s defence, Thomas Partey gave away a penalty shortly after halftime. However, goalkeeper David Raya came to the rescue, securing yet another clean sheet.
Raya first denied Mateo Retegui from the penalty spot, then swiftly dove to his left to thwart the Argentine-born Italy striker again moments later.
While his initial penalty save was somewhat routine due to Retegui’s poor execution, the remarkable reaction save on the rebound was anything but ordinary.
David Raya Saves Arsenal in Atalanta Clash
“I feel sorry for the lads, we played a great match,” Retegui told Sky Italia, squandering comfortably the best chances in a game short on goal-mouth activity. “I missed the penalty, but you learn from your mistakes.
“The goalkeeper made a great save but, on the second ball, I made a mistake. I didn’t see him because he got up quickly.”
Raya, whose performance since joining from Brentford pushed Aaron Ramsdale to seek a new beginning at Southampton, remains one of the most underrated goalkeepers in the sport.
If he continues to deliver standout performances, especially in the high-profile Champions League, the former Blackburn Rovers keeper will finally receive the recognition he merits.
“It was an incredible double save by Raya. Incredible,” sighs Ademola Lookman, the former Everton youngster who’s hat-trick stunned Bayer Leverkusen in May’s Europa final, via the UEFA website.
“We take it game by game. It’s the first (group-stage match), so we’ll see. It was a balanced match.”
“It’s a good point,” adds Gasperini, in quotes reported by Tuttomercatoweb, after lauding Arteta in the build-up to Thursday’s clash. “It’s normal, there’s the regret of the missed penalty. Going ahead at that moment would have been a reward for the whole team.
“It was a very useful match for us. We played against a great team, we come out of this match with a performance from the attackers in the defensive phase that had never been there before. This helped the collective performance of the whole defence.
“The penalty save was good, but the recovery on the second header was fantastic.”
A Point on the Board in the Champions League
Arteta’s main concern will be that Arsenal failed to pose a real threat to the goal throughout the match.
Gabriel Martinelli squandered their best opportunity, sending a shot well over the crossbar—marking 17 appearances without a goal for him. The visitors’ expected goals (XG) didn’t even surpass one.
Thankfully, despite a disappointing performance from Arsenal’s attackers, the Premier League contenders can count on their reliable defenders to step up and secure results.
“I was lucky to go in the right direction and save it,” Raya, who now has four clean sheets in five games, tells TNT Sport when running through his Retegui denial. “I was lucky to get the rebound as well. I was quite quick to get up and save it.
“It’s great to be able to keep a clean sheet and help the team get a point. It took a long time to confirm the penalty, so I made the decision to go to the bench and went to talk to the goalkeeping coach (Inaki Cana) about where to throw myself.
“He helped me a lot in every way, so credit to him too.”
Raya, interestingly, could have been joined at Arsenal by another Spanish stopper. A £21 million bid for Espanyol’s Joan Garcia, however, failed in August.
In other Arsenal news, Arsenal’s 3/10 Shøckēr Was Just as Bad as Partey vs Atalanta
