Mikel Arteta was spotted doing one thing to David Raya as Arsenal players celebrated with their fans after beating Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal kept the pressure on Manchester City in the Premier League title race as they beat Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners enjoyed a dream first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
A Bukayo Saka delivery from a corner kick was turned into the hosts’ own net by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg with just fifteen minutes on the clock. The 22-year-old Hale End academy graduate then doubled Arsenal’s lead before the half-hour mark as he latched onto a long ball from Kai Havertz before picking out the bottom corner.
Saka matched two feats last achieved by Ian Wright in an Arsenal shirt against Tottenham on Sunday.
The Gunners were able to grab a third goal before the break too, again from a corner kick. This time Declan Rice sent the ball in and it was nodded home by Havertz. Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover was lauded by Gary Neville for his influence on the game.
David Raya error almost costs Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur
However, Spurs fought back in the second half, and were gifted a goal by goalkeeper David Raya. In the 64th minute, the ball came to the Arsenal shot-stopper in his own box. The Spaniard has time to pick a pass, but got into a muddle and could only manage to direct the ball straight into the path of Cristian Romero.
The Tottenham centre-back, who was inexplicably high up the pitch, rolled the ball into the back of the net. This goal revived the home support, and momentum swung in Spurs’ favour as the volume levels rose inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
With 87 minutes played, Rice was penalised by VAR for a challenge in the box, and Tottenham were awarded a penalty, which Son Heung-min duly converted.
Mikel Arteta interacts with David Raya after Arsenal hold out v Spurs
It was a tense final phase of the match for Arsenal, but they showed composure to cling on. Raya was able to bring calm to the back line, and he authoritatively claimed a number of crosses that came into his box. These catches allowed the Gunners to regroup and run down the clock.
Arsenal fans praised Raya for how he was able to respond to his own disastrous error in this match.
After the final whistle, Mikel Arteta was quick to show his support for the Spanish ‘keeper too. As observed by Zinny Boswell, reporting from the stadium for Sky Sports Live Blog (28/04;2024, 16:01), “Arsenal fans are celebrating like a goal has just gone in. This feels absolutely mammoth for them. The whole team ran over to the away fans in a group. Raya got a hug from Arteta straight after the full-time whistle. Absolute jubilation for those in red.”
