Arsenal: David Raya issues defiant response to Tottenham blunder as title pressure mounts
David Raya believes he showed his character by responding to his howler against Tottenham to help Arsenal see out victory in Sunday’s dramatic north London derby.
Arsenal beat Spurs 3-2 to stay top of the Premier League and ahead of Manchester City, who are a point behind with a game in hand after winning at Nottingham Forest.
The Gunners were 3-0 up at half-time and cruising to victory when Raya gifted Tottenham a lifeline.
The Arsenal goalkeeper passed the ball straight to Cristian Romero, who scored, and a late Heung-min Son penalty set up a nervy finish.
Mikel Arteta praised Raya for recovering his composure and claiming a series of late crosses, with the Arsenal manager saying his side are “lucky” to have a goalkeeper like that.
The pair hugged at the full-time whistle, and Raya said: “Mistakes are part of football and you learn from them. What he (Arteta) said was just about the character that I showed after the mistake.
“I thought I was mentally very strong and I just forgot about the mistake, I just carried on playing my game and tried to help the team as much as possible. I think I showed that in the last 20 minutes.
“We had gained control until I made a mistake for the first goal. We had to bounce back and I thought the character from the team, everybody was willing to defend, and to even get one more goal to settle the game, but we couldn’t and we gave away a penalty.
“It’s 3-2 and the last few minutes was a little bit more shaky for the people outside, but for us that’s our job and I really, really enjoyed that challenge to keep the ball out of the net and trying to help the team as much as possible on crosses. We showed great character collectively.”
Raya has been in the spotlight this season after replacing Aaron Ramsdale as the team’s No1 following his loan move from Brentford during the summer.
Sunday was the third time in the league that an error from Raya had led to a goal, with only Brentford defender Nathan Collins and Sheffield United goalkeeper Wes Foderingham having a worse record.
Raya, however, insists he is loving the pressure of the title race and the chance to prove himself on the biggest stage.
“I like challenges and I don’t feel under pressure,” said Raya. “I feel like that when things are pressure, it’s an opportunity to show what you’re capable of.”
City are in control of the title race and will be champions if they win all four of their remaining games.
Arsenal have three matches to go, including a trip to Old Trafford next week, and Raya believes they must concentrate on themselves or it could derail their title push.
He said: “We cannot focus on other teams, because if you do that you lose your focus on yourself and you don’t start playing the same way.
“You have to focus on yourself and the team, on what you can control. If you focus on things that you cannot control, things are not going to go well.
“It is a massive confidence boost [beating Spurs], especially the games that we won away from home. That shows the character of the team.”
