Paul Merson reveals ‘game changer’ moment in Arsenal win over Manchester United

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Arsenal moved back to within seven points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 victory over Manchester United.

Goals from Jurrien Timber and William Saliba were enough to give Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal side their third straight Premier League victory.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	14	11	2	1	29	11	18	35
2	ChelseaChelsea	14	8	4	2	31	15	16	28
3	ArsenalArsenal	14	8	4	2	28	14	14	28
4	Man CityManchester City	14	8	2	4	25	19	6	26

It was also Arsenal’s fourth straight victory over Manchester United, who now haven’t beaten the Gunners since August 2022.

In what seemed a comfortable night for the North London side, pundit Paul Merson highlighted a key moment in the game against Manchester United that many people may have overlooked.

Paul Merson believes David Raya save was a ‘game changer’

Speaking on Sky Sports post-match coverage, Merson was full of praise for Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya and his save from a Matthijs De Ligt header when the game was in the balance.

Merson stated, “Raya made an unbelievable save at 1-0. Phenomenal save. That goes under the radar, people won’t talk about that.”

The ex-Arsenal man then went on to highlight the importance of the save in the context of the game and how the result could have been different if it weren’t for Raya. Recently, teammate Gabriel Martinelli praised Raya calling him ‘one of the best in the world.’

Merson, “They’ll think Arsenal won easily but if he doesn’t make that save it goes 1-1 and at the time Arsenal couldn’t have played any better. It’s a game changer.”

David Raya moves to second in the race for the ‘Golden Glove’

Mikel Arteta has noticed a ‘real change’ in David Raya and the Spaniard’s performances this season have certainly backed up his manager’s faith.

Raya’s fifth clean sheet of the Premier League campaign moved him up to joint second in the race for the ‘Golden Glove’- an award which Raya won last season.

Mikel Arteta was right to keep faith with David Raya when the Spaniard went through a tricky spell last season and the Gunners are now reaping the rewards according to Chris Sutton.

Raya boasts an impressive 88% save percentage so far this campaign and is often the start of Arsenal’s build-up play with 85 accurate long balls. He is also yet to have an error leading to a goal this season.