“He has stood up with incredible personality” – Mikel Arteta lauds David Raya

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta heaped praise on goalkeeper David Raya after they bested Porto on penalties in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash at the Emirates on Tuesday. The Gunners came into the contest after trailing Porto by 1-0 in the first leg.

Leandro Trossard scored the Gunners in the 41st minute with Martin Odegaard providing an assist. However, both teams failed to find the back of the net in the second half, forcing the game into extra time.

But once again both teams could not create many chances in the extra 30 minutes. On penalties, Arsenal won by 4-2 after David Raya made two crucial saves in the shootout.

Mikel Arteta said as quoted by Arsenal.com, “…credit to the coaches as well for the way they did it and obviously for David [Raya]. He had some difficult moments to start but he stood up with an incredible personality and ambition, and at the end he got rewarded with his moment.”

Raya made three saves and completed 32-44 passes in the first 120 minutes of the game.

“I don’t have to see him today, I was very convinced that was going to be the case. You see in the first few days here and what he had to go through and how he did it with that composure. You look at his body language, and the position that he takes, he doesn’t get very affected and that’s a key quality for a goalkeeper.”

With this win, Arsenal qualified for the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals after a long gap of 14 years.

Raya, who joined Arsenal on loan from Brentford last season, has kept 13 clean sheets in 29 matches across all competitions.