The Gunners wanted to get a head start in the Champions League campaign, but were unable to find their way past a staunch Atalanta defence at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia on Thursday night. In the opposition half the Gunners were unable to create serious havoc and thus the match changer was Raya in the goal by the 3rd minute of the second period.
Arsenal’s Raya was in action in the shootout that featured a penalty awarded to Atlanta after the Video Assistant Referee intervention of Clement Turpin, andRaya used the time that was granted by VAR to discuss with Arsenal’s goalkeeping trainer Inaki Cana. The Spaniard then got down the right way to save Retegui’s spot kick and then got a finger-tip on the striker’s headed attempt at the re-take.
FC Barcelona and Arsenal did not enjoy a good start to their Champions League match on September 19, Thursday. Barcelona began their Champions League campaign poorly by a 2-1 home loss against AS Monaco on Thursday, and things went from bad to worse after an early dismissal of Eric Garcia. Things sharply went wrong when the first half was just 11 minutes old that saw Garcia red card for a foul on Monaco’s Takumi Minamino who had been through on goal, long after a back pass by ter Stegen of FC Barcelona.
The hosts Leicester took this numerical advantage to heart, and Maghnes Akliouche made a low-driven shot to give Monaco the lead after 5 minutes and the score stood at 1:0. Barcelona manage to come back and equalize for the game in the 28th minute, Lamine Yamal’s shot from the free-kick area landed the ball in the back of the net. However, the pressure finally yielded in the second half when Ilenikhena came in for Monaco and equalized 71 minutes into the game giving the French side one of the best wins in their first Champions’ League group stage appearance in five years.
David Raya saves Arsenal
Arsenal was held to a 0-0 stalemate by Atalanta in their first Champions League match on Thursday with Gunners goalkeeper David Raya making key contributions. In the 51 th minute the Spaniard produced a fantastic save blocking Mateo Retegui’s attempt at the penalty kick. It did not finish there with heroes with one brilliant play, Raya got his body in front of Retegui’s subsequent header to guarantee the match ends goalless.
What Arteta Said
Arteta flew into the praises of his goalkeeper after the game as he stressed that the saves made by Raya were two of the best he had ever seen in his footballing career.
“We made too many elementary mistakes,” sighed Arteta. “But defensively, we did not pay a price and then two of the best saves that I have seen from a goalkeeper at that time was David.”
The full-stretch reflex save by Raya when coming out of the line literally earned her the name of a cat, which astonished Atalanta’s manager, Gian Piero Gasperini.
“Man, this guy is a cat. This first save is good but this rebound is dumb amazing , he said. “I think that the goalkeeper has been very important, I am sorry for Mateo because it has been his best game since he joined our team.”
Champions League: Other results
The other games on Thursday included Atletico Madrid beating RB Leipzig 1-0 after a winner by Jose Maria Gimenez in the last ten minutes of the game. German side Bayer Leverkusen was on rampage scoring 4 goals against Feyenoord in a match and Benfica as well Brest posted victories on the day.
References:
- https://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/champions-league-barcelona-loses-to-monaco-as-david-raya-saves-arsenal-in-atalanta-stalemate/article68662651.ece
- https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/football/story/uefa-champions-league-report-barcelona-as-monaco-arsenal-atalanta-2603111-2024-09-20
Also Read:https://thenewzzy.com/gambhir-leads-indian-cricket-teams-huddle-in-chennai/
