Under-fire £27m Arsenal star defended for ‘mistake’ v Porto that was not his fault

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Journalist Charles Watts has now come to the defence of David Raya in the wake of Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat against Porto on Wednesday evening.

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was beaten in the dying seconds of the match, as Porto secured a 1-0 win in the first-leg of this Champions League tie.

The Gunners looked on course to grind out a goalless draw at the Estadio do Dragao, before Brazilian forward Galeno picked out the bottom corner from range in the 94th minute of the match.

His effort was undeniably well-placed, and curled viciously on its way towards goal. However, many Arsenal fans feel that Raya should have been able to do more to keep the shot out.

The Spanish shot-stopper’s positioning as the strike came in was certainly suspect. Raya generally prefers to take an aggressive stance, off of his line, in anticipation of any crosses coming into his box that he can then claim. On this occasion, though, his positioning put him in an unfavourable spot to try and save the shot, as he could not make up the ground across his goal quick enough to get his hands to the arcing effort.

Was David Raya to blame for the Porto goal?

Mikel Arteta has shown great faith in the 28-year-old this season, keeping Raya in the starting XI despite clamour for Aaron Ramsdale to be brought back in from the cold. In recent weeks, the Spanish coach looked to have been rewarded for this persistence, as Raya seemed to have found his feet at Arsenal, and was looking like a more assured and authoritative presence between the sticks. This perceived error will reignite the Arsenal goalkeeper debate, though.

However, Charles Watts does not actually feel that Raya was at fault for this goal. Writing on X, the reporter said, “maybe it’s just me (feels like it is), but I don’t really see the Raya mistake for that goal. It’s just a brilliant curling finish. Plenty of errors that led to it, the poor pass, no real pressure on the shot, but not sure I see what Raya does wrong.”

Certainly, far more could have been done by the Gunners’ outfield players to prevent this late strike. For instance, Gabriel Martinelli had a poor game all round, and was guilty of giving the ball away unnecessarily in the build up to this goal. None of the Arsenal defenders got out to Galeno quick enough to close down the shot, either.

Raya will almost certainly keep his starting berth at Arsenal after this match, but he will also feel that he has taken a backwards step in terms of convincing the Emirates Stadium faithful that he is deserving of the No. 1 spot. A solid showing from the £27 million ace in the second-leg of this Champions League tie on March 12th would go a long way towards repairing some of the damage done.