Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya played the full 90 minutes during Spain’s 3-1 Nations League win over Czechia on Saturday night.
The 31-year-old has played second fiddle to Athletic Bilbao’s Unai Simon for La Roja and got a rare opportunity to start yesterday.
Raya had no big saves to make and could do little to stop Jiri Slama’s powerful strike in the 69th minute.
However, the Gunners star made a big handling error that could have cost Spain dearly.
At 2-1, Raya spilled an attempted catch into the path of Ryan Naderi for an easy tap-in.
His blushes were saved after the referee blew for a foul on Robin Le Normand in the lead-up.
The Spanish media pointed out the error while publishing their player reviews after the 3-1 win.
Sport (page 4) described Raya as ‘reliable’ but added that he ‘made a mistake’ that could have led to the equaliser (2-2) if not for an earlier attacking foul.
They wrote: “Reliable. With a defence like that in front of him, he had little to do. He made a mistake that could have led to an equaliser, but the play was ruled out due to an earlier attacking foul.”
Meanwhile, Mundo Deportivo (page 4) said that Raya looked ‘unsettled’ between the sticks. They feel he was hesitant with the ball at his feet and made a ‘glaring error’ that could have cost Spain.
The publication mentioned: “Unsettled. He looked somewhat hesitant with the ball at his feet and committed a glaring error that could have cost Spain the equaliser.”
Raya was not at his vintage best for La Roja yesterday. He had a couple of nervous moments in distribution and was lucky to avoid conceding a second goal after a foul on Normand.
Spain have made a perfect start to their Nations League group stage with three wins in as many matches. They will aim to continue the run against Croatia on the road on Tuesday night.
Raya made his first international appearance since June against Peru yesterday, but we won’t be surprised if Simon is reinstated in goal for the trip to the Poljud Stadium in Split next week.
Stats from Sofascore.com