David Raya credit Arsenal goalkeeper coach Inaki Cana after Atalanta double-save

David Raya credited Arsenal’s goalkeeper coach Inaki Cana after his double-save preserved a clear sheet throughout Thursday’s Champions League draw towards Atalanta.

Atalanta had been given the chance to take the lead within the second half of the pair’s league section opener after Thomas Partey was penalised for a foul on Marten de Roon. The choice to award the penalty was the topic of a prolonged video assistant referee (VAR) examine, throughout which Raya took himself to the sidelines to obtain directions from Cana.

Raya then saved Mateo Retegui’s penalty earlier than reacting to maintain out the Atalanta ahead’s headed rebound.

“I used to be fortunate to go the fitting manner and put it aside, I used to be unfortunate to get the rebound straight to him however I used to be simply fast sufficient to stand up and save the rebound,” Raya advised TNT Sports activities “So it’s implausible to have the ability to preserve the clear sheet and assist the crew not less than get some extent.”

He continued: “I took the choice to go to the sideline simply because it was a protracted wait and a very long time to determine if it was a penalty or not. I simply went to talk with the goalie coach (Cana) to have extra of a way of the place to go and the place to not go and what to do and what to not do.

“So he helped me quite a bit in each side so credit score to him as properly that he does all of the work with every thing so it’s credit score to him as properly for the save.”

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Cana and Raya labored collectively at Brentford earlier than the ‘keeper coach moved to Arsenal in 2019. Raya then adopted go well with in 2023, and his transfer was made everlasting this summer season.

The 29-year-old goalkeeper performed an necessary position in making certain Thursday’s fixture on the Gewiss stadium completed goalless as Arsenal started their European marketing campaign with a draw towards the Europa League champions.

“We all know it’s a troublesome place to come back, they’re an impressive crew,” Raya added. “They made it troublesome for us however we made it troublesome for them. A degree away from dwelling (is optimistic) however I feel we might have performed just a little bit higher.”

Arsenal return to motion towards Manchester Metropolis on Sunday and resume their Champions League marketing campaign towards Paris Saint-Germain on October 1.