In a key battle in the 2nd round of the English Premier League, Arsenal defeated Aston Villa 2-0 away from home. Goalkeeper David Raya made a number of key saves in the match, one of which was particularly good, successfully defusing the opponent's attack. After the match, he was interviewed by the club's official, reviewing that save as well as the match.
Speaking about his decisive save, David Raya said, "It was an emergency situation and I knew it was a shot from outside the box. I noticed that Gabriel may have touched the ball, causing the path of the ball to change. After the ball hit the ground, I felt it cross me, but I was ready to make the save. Fortunately, my knee may have played a role, although I'm not sure. As the ball flew toward the goal, I tried my best to touch it, but it hit the goal frame first. At that moment, time seemed to slow down and I saw the ball flying towards the other side of the pitch again. I quickly got up and saw Ollie (Watkins) getting ready to make up a header and without hesitation I reacted and blocked the ball with my hand. It was one of the most important saves I made in the game."
When asked if it was the best save of his career, David Raya modestly said, "Maybe, but I think it's just an echo of a maneuver I've repeated countless times in training. In training, we're often in similar situations where we save one ball and then have to get up quickly to save another. So, when I saw the ball flying towards the goal, my first reaction was to rush up and save it, which is an instinctive reaction brought by training. Of course, I was happy to make the save, especially at a crucial moment when we were drawing 0-0, and it gave us some momentum as a team. We scored shortly after, so that save had a big impact on the outcome of the game."
In addition, David Raya emphasized the importance of points: "The most important thing is the points, and we've got two important wins in the league. Especially in this game, it's not easy to get a win at Aston Villa's home ground, which is one of the hardest places to play away from home in the Premier League. The whole team is very happy and proud to take three points from here and keep the clean sheet. We will continue to work hard to keep this good form and get ready for the next games."