David Raya got off to a fantastic start to his season with Arsenal, keeping a clean sheet as the Gunners beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Arsenal beat Manchester United once again on their turf, and most importantly for Mikel Arteta, got off to a winning start in the Premier League for the 25/26 campaign.
The game saw full debuts for Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko, but there was little else to shout about beyond an Altay Bayindir mistake that allowed Riccardo Calafiori to score the winner.
Manchester United v Arsenal - Premier League
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However, it was another Manchester United player whose performance caused David Raya real problems.
David Raya on Matheus Cunha
Matheus Cunha impressed for Manchester United against Arsenal, and Raya singled out the Brazilian for giving him a particularly difficult moment in the first half.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match when asked about his standout save, Raya said: “Cunha in the first half. It was a tough one, to be honest. He was very, very close to my feet.”
The save was spectacular, denying what looked like a certain goal from United’s new £62.5m signing.
“And we’re now delighted to have the team get the three points, and that’s the main thing,” Raya added.
Aside from the stop against Cunha, Raya remained composed throughout the match and was a key catalyst in Arsenal’s opening-day win in the Premier League.
Manchester United v Arsenal - Premier League
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David Raya reacts to Manchester United against Arsenal
Raya reflected on the win post-match, noting that the main thing was securing the three points, even though he knew Arsenal could perform better.
“It’s a great start in terms of points,” he said afterwards to club media. “In terms of a difficult place to come, away from home to Old Trafford and get the three points and a clean sheet.
“But we know it wasn’t good enough with the ball and we made a lot of mistakes, so there’s a lot of things to improve, but I’m happy to get the three points and start with a clean sheet.”
“We know coming to this place how important it is to be alert” Raya added, “and try to do my job and help the team and I think I did that and tried to help the team as much as possible and we got the three points and the clean sheet, that was the main thing.
“That’s the willingness, the fight, the spirit that we have altogether, where things are not going our way and we make mistakes, everybody’s sprinting back and trying to help the teammate that’s made a mistake to recover the ball and to do the right thing.
Manchester United v Arsenal - Premier League
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“So we did that and I think we dug deep very, very well, especially the last 10-15 minutes where they threw everything to us and we defended very well, so that’s credit to the team.”
Arsenal now take on Leeds United on Saturday, where Arteta and his side will be looking to make it two wins from two in England’s top flight.