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Premier League | Gameweek 2
Aug 24, 2024 at 5.30pm UK
Villa Park
AL

Aston Villa
0 - 2
Arsenal


Onana (72')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Trossard (67'), Partey (77')
Rice (45+3'), Magalhaes (57'), Odegaard (89')

David Raya makes surprise "best save" admission after Ollie Watkins wonder stop

:Headline: David Raya makes surprise 'best save' admission after Ollie Watkins wonder stop:
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya does not believe that his incredible save against Aston Villa was the "best" of his career as the Gunners prevail 2-0 at Villa Park.
Sports Mole

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya does not believe that the wonder save he produced from Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins was the "best" he has ever made in his career.

The former Brentford man made it two clean sheets from two games as Arsenal made it two wins from two in the 2024-25 season, prevailing 2-0 against Unai Emery's men in the West Midlands.

Last term, Villa were the only team to do the double over Arsenal in the Premier League, and the Lions were agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock in the second half at Villa Park, only for Raya to produce a moment of brilliance.

The Spaniard firstly had to backtrack to try to reach a deflected Amadou Onana effort, but his reach was futile as the ball crashed back into the box off the bar, and Watkins would ostensibly head home the rebound with Raya sprawled on the ground.

However, to the astonishment of the crowd, Raya sprung back up and dived to his left to palm Watkins's header away, in what will surely be regarded as one of the best saves of the Premier League season.

Raya: 'Watkins save was not my best one'

The 28-year-old's magnificent stop was considered a turning point in the game, as Arsenal quickly took control of the second half and propelled themselves into the ascendancy through Leandro Trossard's crisp finish.

The substitute's opener preceded another goal from outside the area from Thomas Partey, although Emiliano Martinez did not do himself justice as he let the Ghanaian's 20-yard curler slip through his grasp, much to the amusement of the Arsenal fans just to the left of him.

While Martinez has suffered several misfortunes against Arsenal since leaving the club, Raya's save was lauded from all corners, although the 28-year-old played down his individual moment of stardom when speaking to Sky Sports News.

"Everyone is a hero because we work together. It's not just me saving the ball. It was a crucial moment in the game where it was 0-0 and they had chances and I was there to save Ollie's [Watkins] header," Raya said.

"I think of what I remember, it's a shot from outside the box. I'm on the floor so I try to get up and I can't reach it. I just see Ollie going in there so I react as quickly as possible I put my hand there and there's no one there to get the ball.

Raya credits "luck" after Watkins wonder save

"It's just a repetition of things. You do drills and have to save one ball and get up to save another. This time it paid off. This is a reaction one, I don't think it's my best save. I try to help the team as much as possible to win games."

Elaborating to BBC Match of the Day, Raya - whose defence switched off while Onana's deflected strike dropped - admitted he was fortunate that none of Watkins's teammates were positioned to tap home the follow-up.

"It's one of them where you don't know how you did it. I don't remember much of it. OIllie [Watkins] was there and I got a good hand and I saved it and I was lucky no one was there," Raya added.

"No game is easy in the Premier League, you have to fight and dig deep and we did that today. Villa are a very good side and they created chances but we were there to defend them."

Sitting third in the Premier League table behind the only other two sides to have won their first two games so far - Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion - Arsenal host the latter at the Emirates next Saturday lunchtime. body check tags ::

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133
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