Atalanta 0-0 Arsenal: Raya light

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction

Thank you David Raya. Not just for making an incredible double save from Atalanta’s second half penalty, but for saving us from a couple of days of navel-gazing and introspection ahead of Sunday’s trip to Man City. There’s enough to consider already, doing it with the sting of defeat would have made it a lot more difficult.

It’s very hard to know what to say about last night, because so little actually happened. Mikel Arteta brought Declan Rice back into midfield at the expense of Jorginho, while Gabriel Jesus came in for Leandro Trossard up front. Our best/only chance of the first half came from a free kick just outside the box. Bukayo Saka went low, the keeper made a good save to stop the initial effort, then blocked Thomas Partey’s follow-up.

And … that was kinda it. The rest of the half was essentially two teams cancelling each other out. No question Atalanta made it very difficult for us, they are a tough team to play against, but at the same time we didn’t do enough to cause them problems. Nor did they particularly trouble us at the back. We couldn’t get the ball through the lines, the forwards had scant service in areas where they might cause the opposition problems, and on the rare occasion we had a sight of goal, we fluffed our lines.

Gabriel Martinelli shot over for us, Charles De Ketelaere shot over for them after a nice passage of play, but by half-time it was possibly the least interesting game of football Arsenal have been involved in for some time. There were shades of last season’s away game against Porto, but where they made it hard for us through relentless short-man syndrome cynicism, Atalanta’s man to man system was the difficulty we faced.

Early in the second half, the home side were awarded a penalty when Ederson got beyond Partey too easily (this recurring theme continues to vex me), and the Arsenal midfielder clipped his heel as he went into the box. There was a lengthy VAR check, I assume to ensure the offence which started outside the area carried on into it, but I don’t think we can have any complaints about the decision. If it happened up the other end, I’d 100% want that as a penalty for us.

Leaving aside the fact that no man with a haircut like Mateo Retegui’s should be permitted to score against The Arsenal, it was a brilliant opportunity for Atalanta. However, David Raya was the hero again, diving to his right stop the initial spot kick, before scrambling back up to paw away the headed rebound just before it crossed the line. Yes, I think Retegui’s header could have been better, but full props to the Arsenal keeper for producing yet another exceptional moment.

I know we’re only a few games in, but if you were picking a player of the season so far, he’d be right at the top of my list. In almost every one of the games we’ve played he’s been called on to make an important save and has done so with aplomb. Also, the new-found ability to stop penalties is very useful. Before he came to the club, across the Championship and Premier League, Raya had faced 20 penalties and only saved one. So far he has one in the league, now one in the Champions League, and a couple in last season’s shoot-out with Porto. It’s a nice string to add to his bow at a relatively late stage in his career.

Atalanta changed a couple of things, Arteta threw on Jorginho and Trossard for the underwhelming duo of Partey and Jesus, and I suppose it was mildly interesting that the Belgian operated as kind of deep-lying playmaker. It didn’t make much difference though. Riccardo Calafiori came on and looked very comfortable, while Raheem Sterling created a good chance for Martinelli but as has been the case too often of late, his composure in front of goal was nowhere to be found and he blasted over. That felt like the kind of chance that would 100% win the game on a night like that, and he so badly needs one to go in at this point.

So, it ended all square. Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:

I think we started the game really well in the first 20, 25 minutes. I think we played with the ball in the right areas, with a lot of intention and were effective, but without creating too many clear-cut chances. After that, we lost control of the game because we were very inconsistent with the ball, giving a lot of simple balls away – and against a team that are man-to-man, it costs you moments to transition because the moment you lose your man, there is a space and you are in equal numbers in the backline or overloaded.

Did we miss Martin Odegaard? It’s hard to escape that conclusion. In a tight game, the player who can give you that moment of creativity, of precision, that can be the difference. But this is our lot right now, and we’re going to have to cope without him and find ways to make chances without him too.

As you’d expected, the manager was effusive about Raya, saying:

We gave a penalty away and I witnessed two of the best saves I’ve probably ever seen in my career to save us from that moment. This season he has started exceptionally – the save he made against Villa, today he kept us in the game. That’s the reality. You need that from your keeper at this level. I’m really happy he’s in the form he’s in at the moment.

Let’s hope he continues in the same vein, because he could potentially be a lot busier on Sunday. Overall, a game to forget really. A point away from home is never the end of the world in Europe, but with this new format, who knows if that will stand up by the time we get to the eighth game. Anyway, we have bigger fish to fry this weekend, and a big challenge against the Man City.

We’ll have a post-game Arsecast for you a little later this morning too, so stand by for that.

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