David Raya had a bad night yesterday in London, with the draw (2-2) between Arsenal and Bayern Munich in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The Spanish goalkeeper starred in two plays that generated all kinds of criticism, both from fans and former footballers like Dutchman Rafael Van der Vaart.
In one he got away with a very naive penalty on a play where he passed the ball to Gabriel and he caught it with his hand thinking to put it in place to throw it himself. Referee Glenn Nyberg decided not to call anything. But the Swede pointed a penalty for William Saliba’s foul on Sané and Harry Kane did not spare from the spot.
That exact play drew derision from some fans and from Van del Vaart himself, who criticized the Spanish goalkeeper’s role in that penalty. Raya decided to dive too early towards the right post and it made Kane’s job easier to push the ball across. “Kane hasn’t even moved and Raya has fallen to the ground. Look at Raya… Is this guy seriously a goalie?” Kane himself admitted after the game to ‘TNT Sports’ that the goalkeeper, “whom I studied, made it easy for me by diving very quickly.”
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
