This Arsenal and Manchester City rivalry seems to be bubbling up pretty nicely and getting more intense every time they play.
Mikel Arteta will feel his players are closer than ever to becoming Premier League champions, after they narrowly missed out last season.
One player who has pushed Arsenal closer to ultimate glory is David Raya after his controversial move to the club last summer.
Aaron Ramsdale was Arsenal’s number one and many felt that he didn’t need replacing, but Arteta did and he didn’t hesitate to do so.
Fast forward to the present and it is proving to be a masterstroke, especially after Arsenal’s draw at Atalanta in the Champions League and then point at Manchester City on Sunday when they were down to ten men for the whole of the second half.
Looking back on Arteta’s time at the Emirates, he has made many big calls that, at first, have been questioned, but later been proved to be correct.
From booting out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to replacing his first-choice goalkeeper on two occasions – first moving out Bernd Leno and then Ramsdale.
Joe Hart wanted to give Raya a ‘special mention’ for his performance at the Etihad and how he was ‘incredible’ in between the sticks.
The former title winner wanted to point out what the Spanish star has had to deal with this season, from saving deflected shots to double saves from penalties, as he told Premier League Productions (22/09/24 at 6:45 pm).
Michael Owen agreed with his fellow pundit, but was also keen to praise Arsenal’s tactics against Manchester City and how the champions didn’t great many big chances in the second half, even though they had 28 shots at goal.
David Raya’s performances for Arsenal
“I absolutely loved that,” said Hart. “Wild at the end, so much passion. Great effort from Arsenal. Incredible effort from the ten players. They couldn’t hold on and Man City played true to how they wanted to play. Poachers finish from Stones. David Raya, a special mention, incredible performance. He almost produced some miraculous saves to win the game.
“Some Manchester City fans, or some football fans, would have been screaming ‘just get it in the box, just do this and just do that’. Haaland is marked tightly. Anything that was chipped in, David Raya dealt with exceptionally, so they had to be patient.
“His reactions, he is used to, at the moment, making saves, deflections, off the bar, making a save after a penalty. He is back up and is sharp. When he looks at it, he probably thought John Stones would give him no chance. He ended up giving him a chance and he almost pulled off a miraculous save.”
Owen then added: “Most of them (28 shots in the second half) were speculative. I don’t think there were many big chances. A lot of them were desperation. He did make some good saves. Raya had a good game.”
David Raya Arsenal’s best player this season
From Raya’s performance at Aston Villa, to his Champions League display, and now showing his worth against Manchester City.
It has been a strong start from Arsenal’s number one and he could probably argue that he is his team’s best player this season.
READ MORE: Declan Rice and Vinicius Jr seriously impressed by Arsenal star v Manchester City
Every title-winning team needs a goalkeeper who can win you more points than most and Raya is already doing that.
Ederson and Alisson Becker have been there for Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively, in recent years and now Raya is hoping to join them.
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