Arsenal ended their 14-year hoodoo on Tuesday by booking their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a penalty shootout win over Porto – and Jamie O’Hara has praised David Raya.
There has been a lot of chat about whether 28-year-old Raya deserved his place in the Arsenal starting line-up, replacing Aaron Ramsdale between the sticks – with the Englishman doing very little wrong.
But if he hadn’t already, Raya showed why Mikel Arteta continues to place his faith in the on-loan star. Paul Merson believes the three-time Spain star proved a lot of people wrong with his Tuesday display.
Indeed, Raya kept his 13th clean sheet in what was his 29th outing for Arsenal – in which he has only conceded 23 goals. But it was his two saves in the penalty shootout that saw Raya steal the limelight.
Before the game, Chris Sutton said he has been “outstanding” and he was just that on Tuesday night. Even Tottenham fan Jamie O’Hara admitted Raya was “fantastic” on TalkSPORT, after the game.
“[He was] really good. We were thinking, will they put Ramsdale on? Raya has been brilliant, fairplay to him, he’s stepped up. Started with a few risks, but he’s come through and tonight, he was fantastic.”
Jamie O’Hara full of praise for Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya
He was sensational. Two excellent saves in the shootout and a number of decent stops during the game to deny Porto a second goal over the two-legged tie. He is proving why he is Arsenal’s no.1 goalkeeper.
But it surely means that Ramsdale will have to look for a new club in the summer, without actually doing a whole lot wrong in an Arsenal shirt. That is of course, if Arsenal make his loan deal a permanent one.
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