Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has told the club’s official website that he felt Bernd Leno saved his side against Newcastle United.
The Gunners were in FA Cup action on Saturday night, hosting Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium in that ended up being quite the dour affair.
Neither side particularly impressed, but Arsenal did manage to score twice in the second half of extra time with Emile Smith Rowe opening the scoring.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added a second, sending Arsenal through to the fourth round, and fans would probably rather not think about this game for much longer.
Still, some Arsenal players enjoyed fine evenings, and goalkeeper Leno has now come in for praise from Arteta.
Newcastle had a golden chance to win the game in injury time of normal time, with Andy Carroll firing straight at Leno from a swift counter.
Leno not only made a smart save, but then managed to flick the ball away from Carroll as he prepared to lash home the rebound.
Arteta suggested that Leno ‘saved’ Arsenal, and did so in a ‘magnificent way’, heaping praise on the £19m German.
“We had to patient,” said Arteta. “They are a team who are well-organised and make it hard for you. We had the chances I think, very big chances to score much earlier but when you don’t do that, the game is open.”
“If you don’t do that in your box, you need your keeper in a key moment – like it happened after the corner kick on the counter – to save you. Bernd did it in a magnificent way and at the end we scored two and deserved to go through,” he added.
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