Arsenal hero David Seaman says the way David Raya reacted to his ‘double mistake’ in the side’s 3-2 victory over Tottenham proved that the Spaniard is a ‘quality goalkeeper’.
The Gunners appeared on course for a comfortable north London derby win as Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz extended the visitors lead following Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s 15th-minute own goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However, a moment of madness from Raya in the 64th minute allowed Spurs to gain a foothold in the game, with the 28-year-old inexplicably dinking the ball straight to Cristian Romero, who slotted home to give Sunday’s hosts a glimmer of hope.
Son Heung-min converted from the spot with three minutes remaining to set up a nervy finish for Arsenal, but Mikel Arteta’s men preserved their narrow lead to hold onto top spot in the Premier League at the weekend’s close.
Arteta jumped to Raya’s defence in his post-match press conference, insisting Arsenal were ‘lucky’ to have the shot-stopper in their squad and praising his fellow countryman’s ‘sensational’ reaction to the blunder.
Raya, meanwhile, reassured Arsenal supporters that he would come out of the experience a better player and ‘learn’ from the error that could have cost his team on another day.
Analysing Arsenal’s derby win on the Seaman Says podcast, club legend Seaman criticised Raya for compounding his initial mistake by ‘guessing’ which way Romero would go rather than waiting.
But Seaman was impressed with the way Raya was able to brush off the embarrassing moment, claiming the Spain international ‘passed the test with flying colours’.
‘[I was nervous] for the last 20 minutes after Raya messed up with the back pass,’ Seaman said.
‘He got caught in two minds. He wanted to play it and then he saw that somebody had closed the avenue off for his pass and then he ended up doing nothing.
‘He knocked it straight to Romero and then, even on Romero’s finish, he guessed which is not what you do. You have to try and wait.
‘It was a double mistake but I’ve got to give him credit because as much as that put a load of pressure on the team when we were coasting, if I’m honest, his performance after the mistake was really good.
‘His reaction was great because he came out for every cross, he was solid at the back still, and it’s a good sign in ‘keepers when they make a mistake, especially like that where you know the fans are up and at it again because they’re thinking they can get back in it.
‘The way he reacted was brilliant and it just shows you that he is a quality goalkeeper.
‘He didn’t have a great deal to do save-wise, but when he made that mistake it was a test and he passed it with flying colours.’
Seaman reserved special praise for Ben White’s display and accused Spurs on failing to ‘do their homework properly’ after they allowed the defender to block Guglielmo Vicario for set pieces in the first half.
‘He is brilliant at blocking the goalkeeper off and the goalkeepers are silly for getting involved because they should know,’ the ex-England goalkeeper added.
‘Tottenham didn’t do their homework properly because they left Ben White on Vicario in the first half. Second half, they got somebody to mark Ben White but it was too late by then.
‘Ben White was brilliant and Vicario needed to not get involved.
‘Ben does it perfectly where he just gives a little nudge and it’s enough to block his momentum because he should have come out for that third goal, he should have come out and punched it.
‘He even tried to put Vicario’s gloves on at one point as well!’
Seaman hopes Thomas Partey is able to keep himself fit for the remainder of the campaign after the Ghanaian shone in the middle of the park alongside Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.
‘Hopefully Partey stays fit now for the rest of the season. He’s that calming influence,’ he continued.
‘Jorginho is like that as well because he’s got so much experience but with Partey you’ve got this tall, strong, athletic midfielder that can hold and then let Declan do what he needs to do.’
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