David Raya has now lifted the lid on how Arsenal prepared in training for Tuesday’s Champions League tie with FC Porto after his heroics during their penalty shootout.
The Gunners have progressed into the quarter-finals of UEFA’s elite club competition for the first since the 2009/10 season. Arsenal had crashed out of the Champions League in the last 16 stage during each of their previous seven appearances between 2010/11 through 2016/17.
Nerves around Emirates Stadium were on tenterhooks, then, as Tuesday night’s match went all the way to penalties. Galeno had secured Porto a 1-0 win in the closing stages of the first leg. But Martin Odegaard’s genius set Leandro Trossard up to pull the tie level on aggregate.
David Raya emerged as Arsenal’s hero to beat FC Porto
Captain Odegaard inventively flicked a pass through to Trossard, who drilled Arsenal level at home to Porto on aggregate. But Mikel Arteta’s team would not find a second goal following the Belgian’s 41st-minute strike, while Porto were content to waste time and go to penalties.
Arsenal made Sergio Conceicao’s side rue their playacting as Raya saved two of Porto’s four penalties to win 4-2. The Gunners rode their luck as Wendell’s hit with the Dragoes’ second spot-kick bounced back off the post. But Raya then pulled off a superb dive to deny Galeno.
Some doubts lingered over if Raya got a fingertip to Wendell’s penalty before it hit the post and ricocheted clear off the back of the Arsenal goalkeeper’s leg and put Porto behind. But the 28-year-old on loan from Brentford proved their hero as he comfortably saved Galeno’s.
David Raya admits Arsenal prepared ‘a lot’ for penalties
Stopping Galeno’s penalty and securing a place in the Champions League quarter-finals was the reward for Raya and the Arsenal coaching staff’s hard work in training at London Colney. Raya admits that he worked with Inaki Cana Pavon to prepare for the possibility of penalties.
“Obviously, it’s a great feeling, especially for me personally,” Raya told TNT Sports 1 after the shootout. “[It is my] first time in the Champions League [and the] first time for the club in so many years that we’ve got to the quarter-finals.
“It’s great for the team, obviously. I think we played a really, really good game from the start. We dominated, we created chances but then it went down to penalties. And I’m there.
“We’ve been working a lot on penalties this year just for nights like this. We need to be really, really good and, obviously, all the hard work with the goalie coach and the team paid off. Obviously, it’s a great moment. It’s a great moment personally and collectively.”
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