David Raya confessed that he found himself far more occupied between the posts at Old Trafford on Sunday than he would have preferred, as Manchester United relentlessly pressed forward.
However, the goalkeeper expressed his delight at the resilience, determination, and fighting spirit his teammates displayed, qualities that ultimately enabled them to grind out a hard-fought and crucial victory.
The goalkeeper produced seven vital saves against Manchester United to secure a priceless clean sheet and ensure that the Gunners opened the new campaign with a narrow but significant 1-0 victory.
“It’s a great start in terms of points,” he said afterwards. “In terms of a difficult place to come, away from home to Old Trafford and get the three points and a clean sheet. B but we know it wasn’t good enough with the ball and we made a lot of mistakes, so there’s a lot of things to improve, but I’m happy to get the three points and start with a clean sheet.”
David, who clinched the prestigious Premier League Golden Glove award last season after recording the highest number of clean sheets, has quickly picked up where he left off.
His latest shutout not only highlights his consistency and sharp reflexes but also sends a strong message that he intends to remain at the very top once again this season.
By starting the campaign with another clean sheet, he has set the tone for what could be another standout year between the posts.
“We know coming to this place how important it is to be alert” Raya added, “and try to do my job and help the team and I think I did that and tried to help the team as much as possible and we got the three points and the clean sheet, that was the main thing”.
“That’s the willingness, the fight, the spirit that we have altogether, where things are not going our way and we make mistakes, everybody’s sprinting back and trying to help the teammate that’s made a mistake to recover the ball and to do the right thing. So we did that and I think we dug deep very, very well, especially the last 10-15 minutes where they threw everything to us and we defended very well, so that’s credit to the team.”
Arsenal will now be looking for a more assured and convincing performance when they welcome Leeds to the Emirates Stadium at the weekend for their next Premier League outing.
