Two weeks ago, Mikel Arteta’s praise of David Raya centred on the goalkeeper’s pre-emptive qualities.
“What I like about David is the things he does in goal and the things he prevents that sometimes you don’t even see because they don’t happen — because he has anticipated them,” said the Arsenal manager.
Whether it is his starting position to sweep up long balls, his aggressive positioning at crosses to claim deliveries, the extra pause he tends to take in possession or the quick throws to launch counter-attacks, his marginal gains add up.
But these nuances are not obvious. They require a keen eye to be appreciated and it means that, even though Aaron Ramsdale’s error for Brentford’s goal on Saturday strengthened the case that Arteta’s controversial decision to bring in the Spaniard has been the correct one, Raya still lacked a memorable performance that may be looked upon as definitive proof his manager had made the right call.
On Tuesday night, his moment arrived. Two of them in fact, as his shootout heroics helped Arsenal defeat Porto 4-2 on penalties and reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
Here is how Arsenal and Raya got the better of Porto and the marginal differences in approach that may have made the difference…
In the dying minutes of extra time, with the score locked at 1-1 on aggregate, TNT Sports co-commentator Ally McCoist joked Arteta might be considering bringing Ramsdale on if he thought the Englishman was the best at saving penalties.
Arteta stuck with Raya and within seconds of the full-whistle going, goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana came onto the pitch and led Raya away from the mass of players and staff gathering on the pitch.
The speed at which they made their way to the bench to sit and look through a spreadsheet on each Porto kicker’s tendencies suggested this was a scenario they had mapped out stage by stage.
Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa followed around 10 seconds later but rather than a one-on-one chat, there were three people all around him…
… while manager Sergio Conceicao sat on an ice bucket plotting the order of Porto’s takers away from his squad.
As both teams entered a huddle, Porto waited for their manager to stand in the middle and lead the talk. Arsenal’s came from the players, with Gabriel pictured speaking before dispersing to the halfway line sometime before Porto did.
After the double coin toss — Martin Odegaard won it twice, choosing to go first and shoot in front of the North Bank stand full of Arsenal fans — Raya went to retrieve the ball and get a feel for it, as he does before kick-off in every game, while Porto’s entire squad and staff smothered Costa in support.
Even as the referee explained what was allowed from both goalkeepers, Raya silently nodded while Costa gesticulated and sought assurances. Raya then revved up the crowd as he went over to watch Odegaard lead the way…
Raya had saved just four of the 36 penalties he had faced in his career and did not stop any in Brentford’s Carabao Cup penalty shootout defeat against Gillingham in November 2022.
In contrast, Costa had saved 10 of the 37 penalties he had faced, including three out of four in the Champions League.
Both goalkeepers handed their team-mates the ball — but when it came to facing penalties, Costa went back to his line early, while Raya stood in front of the six-yard box as the taker placed the ball.
He chose the wrong way for the first kick but he repeated the same pattern for Wendell’s attempt, staring him down.
Raya spoke after the game about how goalkeepers have to ensure they keep at least one foot on the line as the ball is struck and cannot speak to the opposition players or else they will be cautioned.
He perfected the technique of propelling himself without committing an infringement as he dug his back foot into the line.
He started marginally behind the line and once he had guessed which way he was going, stepped into his jump using his left foot.
Wendell’s penalty was whipped into the corner, moving away from him. It looked like Raya would not get to it but he cut off the angle and generated so much power in his dive that he made enough contact on the ball to tip it onto the post.
This image shows how he contorted his body so it was in a fully extended horizontal position off the floor.
The ball was diverted onto the inside of the post and rebounded off his trailing leg. It could so easily have ricocheted into the net but Raya got the stroke of luck a save of that quality deserved…
The Spaniard was unfortunate not to make an even better save with the next penalty from Marko Grujic.
“I should have saved three. I don’t think the goalie coach will be happy with the third one I conceded. You have to go a little bit early,” said Raya.
That was likely because he read that the midfielder was going to the same side and got an even bigger hand to this kick.
He looked to push off early but both his feet came off the ground before he did so.
He used the same launch technique (his left foot in front of the line), but the ball had already been struck by this point.
He was straining with his right hand this time and did not have the same trajectory to divert the penalty wide.
Throughout the shootout, both goalkeepers retrieved the ball and hand-delivered it to their team-mate around the edge of the D.
That changed when it came to Galeno’s kick, as Raya had the ball in his hands. The referee asked him to put it down as Galeno approached the penalty area but he ignored it and held on for another few seconds…
Raya then drop-volleyed the ball towards him…
He only stepped back onto the line as Galeno moved away from the ball to prepare his run-up, leaving the image of a bigger frame in his mind.
Raya did not raise his hands this time but, as Galeno bore down on the ball, he crouched into a low position…
Galeno opened his body up early and Raya read his intention straight away. He was already moving to his left despite Galeno having another step to take…
… and as the ball was struck, Raya was already about to spring, smartly leaving his toe rooted to the line.
He covered the ball very early and easily palmed it wide with both hands.
There were other small differences. Galeno was standing at the far end of the Porto line, detached from his team-mates and visibly nervous. Declan Rice, who scored just before him, was in the middle of the line, linking arms with other players.
Arteta is big on psychology and body language, and this was a triumph wrapped up in all of those intangibles.
It was also the night his decision to sign Raya had its greatest vindication yet.
(Top photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
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