Former Tottenham defender Gary Stevens has praised Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya for his heroic show in the Premier League game against Manchester City on Sunday. The dramatic fixture at the Etihad Stadium ended in a 2-2 draw with John Stones scoring a late equaliser for the reigning Premier League champions. The Gunners suffered a huge blow on the stroke of half-time when Leandro Trossard was shown the second yellow card. At that moment, Arsenal were leading the game by two goals to one. After Trossard’s red card, the visitors did not get too many chances to score but defensively, they looked absolutely compact.
With Arsenal playing with ten men, Manchester City increased their pace in the attack in the second half. The defenders of the visiting unit put up some gritty efforts to keep Pep Guardiola’s side at bay. David Raya was also impressive during set-pieces and made some excellent saves. Manchester City attempted to break the opposition defence with aerial passes but most of those crosses landed in Raya’s grip.
After the match was over, Gary Stevens hailed Raya as the “best goalkeeper in the world.” The former Brentford shot-stopper signed a permanent contract with Arsenal earlier this summer. He had spent the last season at the Emirates Stadium on loan.
“He (David Raya) is certainly a keeper in form, in great form. He’s dominant when he comes to crosses and he’s a great shot-stopper. He joined the club on loan and there was that debate over who would start. Mikel Arteta stuck with Raya and he’s now a permanent signing. Arsenal have got this one right, 100%. Now I would say there’s not a better goalkeeper out there than him” Gary Stevens told Stadium Astro, as quoted by the Metro.
Ex-Manchester United star Lee Sharpe agreed with Stevens and explained, “Today Raya showed command of his penalty box and that takes so much stress out of defending when the goalkeeper comes and claims the ball. He was a different class,” as per Metro.
Thanks to David Raya’s brilliant performance, Arsenal had the best defensive records in the last Premier League season. Only Liverpool have conceded more goals than them in the ongoing campaign. After the hard-fought draw with Manchester City, Arsenal remain fourth in the Premier League standings, having collected 11 points from five matches.
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