UCL: Gasperini, Arteta Hails Raya For Miraclous Double Save

Published

Friday, September 20, 2024 at 02:14 PM

Written by Madaki Blessing Sharon

UCL: Gasperini, Arteta Hails Raya For Miraclous Double Save

Atlanta coach, Gian Piero Gasperini was reportedly left dumbfounded by David Raya's miraculous double save, ensuring Arsenal’s escape with a goalless draw from Atalanta in their Champions League opener on Thursday.


Thomas Partey fell Ederson in the Arsenal area, giving Mateo Retegui the chance to put his team into the lead from the penalty spot.


However, Raya saved Mateo Retegui's penalty in the 51st minute and then somehow sprung across the line to keep out the Italy striker's rebound header which looked destined to open the scoring for dominant Atalanta.


Atalanta coach Gasperini interview said: "He was a cat! The first save OK, but the one straight afterwards, that was fantastic."


"For Mateo, it was probably more of a mistake for the rebound than for the penalty."


"Obviously, it made a big difference to the result but I'm sad for Mateo because he played his best game since he was here.


"Maybe the match would have finished 1-1 anyway but he deserved the goal," he added.


Later on, UEFA Champions League made a post on their official X account acknowledging David Raya saves at 9:24pm on Thursday.


On the other hand, the 42-year-old Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta hailed his goalkeeper Raya after the miraculous double save earned his side a 0-0 draw away to Atalanta in the Champions League on Thursday.


"I witnessed two of the best saves I've ever seen in my career from David in that moment," Coach Arteta said.


"If you can't win, you have to take the point. We started well, then we lost control and were very inconsistent. We didn't suffer defensively, apart from the penalty," he added.


Raya appearing modest about his effort, said he had been lucky. He also paid tribute to Inaki Cana, Arsenal's goalkeeping coach who he consulted while VAR checked the penalty decision.


"It was a long time to decide if it was a penalty so I took the decision to go to the side and I went to speak with the goalie coach about where to go and where not to go," Raya explained.


"He helped me a lot in every aspect so credit to him."


Although Arsenal was up to a solid start, Arteta seemed less happy with his team's performance as they offered little in the way of attacking threat against last season's Europa League winners.


"We had moments with the ball but we never got it into dominance or threat," he said.


"The first 25 minutes we read their approach really good. After that we lost control of the game."


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Edited By: Our Correspondent

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