Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya made two horrific errors in the match against Luton Town – and fans were quick to rub salt into his wounds on social media.
The Spaniard, David Raya, joined the Gunners on loan from Brentford in the summer and quickly usurped Aaron Ramsdale to become the club’s first-choice goalkeeper. However, Mikel Arteta’s decision to install Raya as his new No.1 has caused plenty of debate, with fans and pundits alike questioning the England stars’ demotion.
After making an impressive start to his Arsenal career, Raya has looked nervy in recent weeks. And he was badly caught out twice in quick succession during an entertaining match between the Premier League title hopefuls and the Hatters.
First, with Arsenal boasting a 2-1 lead, Raya came and was beaten to a routine corner by Elijah Adebayo, whose header trickled into the unguarded net. Raya’s blushes got even worse a few minutes later when he allowed a tame strike from Ross Barkley to squirm underneath his body at the near post.
Arsenal weren’t trailing for long with Kai Havertz on hand to restore parity in an enthralling game, but Raya was still subjected to some furious messages online.
The second of his clangers was branded “horrible” by Amazon Prime commentator Ally McCoist, while fans called for Arteta to reinstate Ramsdale. One posted: “I feel like I never saw Aaron Ramsdale concede two goals from corners like that,” in relation to his first error.
Another posted: “David Raya has single-handedly cost us two goals with two horrific errors. It’s awful and we haven’t even gotten to the more difficult games against Villa, Brighton, and Liverpool yet.”
Another fan said: “David Raya is not an upgrade on Aaron Ramsdale I’m sorry”.
There has been plenty of speculation in recent weeks that Ramsdale could move on in January after losing his place in the Arsenal team. Speaking before Tuesday night’s match, though, Arteta stressed he wanted the former Bournemouth man to stay.
“I want Aaron with us,” he told reporters when he was asked if Ramsdale could leave. “I am very happy to have two very, very good goalkeepers and Aaron is staying with us. We want to be better, so we want to add to what we already have. That’s the intention that we have.”