Arsenal’s David Raya praised for his spectacular double save: “He’s a cat”

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was celebrated by his manager Mikel Arteta and Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini after the Spaniard’s miraculous double save earned his side a 0-0 draw in the Champions League on Thursday.

Had Raya not saved Mateo Retegui’s penalty in the 51st minute and then somehow jumped over his goal to head back the same player’s follow-up shot, Arsenal could have started their group matches with a heavy away defeat to the Serie A side.

“I saw two of the best saves from David that I have ever seen in my career,” said Arteta.

“If you can’t win, you have to take the point. We started well, then we lost control and were very inconsistent. Apart from the penalty spot, we had no problems in defence.”

Atalanta manager Gasperini was equally impressed.

“He’s a cat. The first save is good, but the rebound is incredible. The goalkeeper was decisive,” said the Italian coach.

Raya was modest about his performance, saying he was lucky and paying tribute to Arsenal goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana, with whom he consulted when the video referee reviewed the penalty decision.

“It took me a long time to decide if it was a penalty, so I decided to go to the side and talk to the goalkeeping coach about where I should and shouldn’t go,” he said.

“He helped me a lot in every way, that is his merit.”

Although Arsenal made a solid start, Arteta was less than pleased with his team’s performance, which showed little attacking power against last year’s Europa League winners.

“We had moments with the ball, but we were never able to dominate it or pose a threat,” he said.

“In the first 25 minutes we read their approach very well. After that we lost control of the game.”

Information from Reuters contributed to this report.