David Raya produced a huge save to deny Brighton.placeholder image
David Raya produced a huge save to deny Brighton. | AFP via Getty Images
Paul Merson couldn't control his excitement when one Arsenal player produced a 'worldie' moment against Brighton on Saturday.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya sent Gunners legend Paul Merson into delirium live on air for Sky Sports on Saturday afternoon when producing a show-stopping save against Brighton.
The Spaniard pulled off a huge leap to get his fingertips onto a Yankuba Minteh shot in the second half. The Seagulls stars could be seen in disbelief at the Emirates Stadium with hands on heads while Gunners colleagues rushed to thank the shot-stopper.
Arsenal went on to claim another narrow win with a 2-1 victory, a Martin Odegaard goal and Georginio Rutter own goal enough to keep Brighton at bay, despite the visitors pulling one back in the 64th minute through Diego Gomez.
David Raya praised for ‘worldie save’ by Paul Merson
Raya’s save came in the 76th minute and kept the scores level. The three points helped Arsenal leap above Manchester City once again in the Premier League table to reclaim their position at the summit.
Providing punditry on Sky Sports when Raya made the save, Merson could hardly get his words out given his state of disbelief. He said: “I’ve just seen one of the best saves I’ve ever seen. Ohhh yes, it’s a worldie save.
“The ball goes into Rutter, he makes a little backheel and Minteh runs onto it with his left foot. He whips it. I shout ‘Goal! It’s a goal!’. And, all of a sudden, Raya comes from nowhere and puts it over the bar. It is an unbelievable save. It’s magnificent. He’s kept them in front here. What a save.”
Mikel Arteta acknowledged ‘sensational’ Arsenal moment
The Gunners captain said: "I think that was the only big chance they had apart from the goal, it was a great save.”
Raya was making his 150th appearance in all competitions for Arsenal against Brighton, having first arrived on loan from Brentford in August 2023.
Speaking about the save today and the overall result, Arteta said: “Very happy with the performance, individually and collectively, so dominant. We were a big threat, so very pleased with all of that. But the margins should have been much bigger. I mean, with the amount of situations, chances, open chances that we generated through the game, it should never be 2-1. But that's the Premier League, that's the step that we have to make.
“I think the first shot that they had, they scored the goal and then David has to make another save to maintain the result. But what I like is that we're having a lot of issues, we're dealing with it in an incredible way. Yesterday we lost Jurrien, today we lose Calafiori in the warm-up, Declan has to play as a full-back and you see the performance that he put in. So, that's the spirit and that's how much our players want it.”
In other news, Arsenal Injury Update: Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber latest ahead of Aston Villa.
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