Martin Keown feels David Raya would have lost his place as Arsenal’s number one had Manchester City profited on a mistake during Sunday’s nervy 1-0 win over the Premier League champions.
The summer signing from Brentford has always been a player happy to take risks on the ball but, as a sharp intake of breath echoed around the Emirates Stadium, 60,000 heart rates rose collectively. David Raya very nearly gifting Julian Alvarez the opener after dithering on the ball.
For Keown, speaking on Match of the Day, the Arsenal goalkeeper was potentially millimetres away from finding himself back on Mikel Arteta’s bench, another mistake bringing about an Aaron Ramsdale re-call after Raya came in for criticism for a blunder in Lens four days earlier.
David Raya survives a scare
“You’re asking him to take risks but you don’t overdo it. I thought he needed to be quicker but maybe they need to give him better solutions,” Keown says, suggesting that Raya only allowed Alvarez to close him down due to the lack of passing options ahead of the Spaniard.
“It’s a lot different plying for Arsenal than playing for Brentford.
“He nearly lost his place yesterday. If that had gone in from Alvarez, he would not have started the next game.”
Keown, however, feels that Raya deserves credit for bouncing back from a shaky start. Ramsdale, then, may have to get himself comfortable with another few weeks on the bench awaiting him.
Arsenal finally beat Manchester City
“By the end of the match, I thought he came through it. He was sending some amazing balls,” Keown adds. “The fans were getting on his back a little bit.
“Ramsdale (is a) fans favourite. A really big player. And the fans are like ‘why is (Arteta) playing (Raya)?’. Especially after the mistake in midweek. But I thought he came good.
“It could be the making of Raya.”
Gabriel Martinelli’s deflected late winner means Arsenal have now tasted victory over Manchester City for the first time in the Premier League since 2015.
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