"This is what I love about our players" – Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta offers interesting response to David Raya error against Tottenham
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has defended David Raya after the Brentford loanee committed a costly error in a 3-2 league win against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday (April 28).
During their recent visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Gunners raced to a 3-0 lead inside 38 minutes of action. Following Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's 15th-minute own goal, Bukayo Saka scored in the 27th minute and Kai Havertz headed in from a Declan Rice corner.
However, Raya singlehandedly brought Spurs back into the game after he passed the ball to Cristian Romero in the 64th minute. The Spurs defender made the most of the Arsenal goalkeeper's mistake before Heung-min Son netted a penalty in the 87th minute of the tie.
During a post-match press conference, Arteta was asked to share his thoughts on Raya's gift to Romero at a vital juncture of the north London derby. He replied (h/t football.london):
"It's part of football. I don't like the sequence of play, I don't like the principles that we apply in that moment and the orientation of the ball. After that, it can happen. You misjudge the situation, you try to make the pass and you don't and then you are in the doubt zone and they scored and took advantage of that."
Arteta, who is in his fifth season in charge of Arsenal, continued:
"Then with the penalty, it's another principle which you cannot do. It's part of football. What I love is that David does that, he picks his hands up, which are quite heavy, and he was sensational for the last 20 or 25 minutes. This is what I love about our players."
Raya, 28, has recorded a respectable 18 clean sheets and conceded just 30 goals in 38 games across competitions for Arsenal this term.
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At a post-game press conference, Mikel Arteta was queried if Kai Havertz is finding new parts to his game after yet another brilliant performance in the title run-in. The Spaniard replied (h/t football.london):
"He was sensational in every department today. He wasn't at 100%. He was ill before the match, he was a bit struggling and still, he put the performance that he put in. I thought he was unbelievable today."
Havertz, 24, contributed one goal and one assist, completed 20 of 28 passes, and won 11 of 18 total duels in the encounter against Spurs.
So far this campaign, the ex-Bayer Leverkusen midfielder has netted 13 goals and provided six assists in 48 overall matches for Arsenal.