David Raya criticised by Michael Owen after Arsenal win over Sevilla

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was heavily criticised by Michael Owen after his display in the Gunners’ 2-1 win over Sevilla on Tuesday night. Raya nearly committed a massive clanger in the dying moments of the match, prompting Martin Keown to dub the discussion around the goalkeeper position a ‘pantomime’.

Arsenal Take Three Precious Points in Seville

The Gunners secured three precious points in Seville courtesy of a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night that sees them bounce back from their defeat to Lens last time out in the Champions League and reclaim top spot in Group B.

Arsenal took the lead in first-half stoppage time when Gabriel Jesus produced a magical turn before releasing Gabriel Martinelli, who ran through on goal, rounded the keeper and rolled the ball into an empty net.

After setting up the first goal, man-of-the-match Jesus bagged the second with a wonderful solo goal as he curled a delicious effort into the far top corner.

Sevilla Hit Back, Raya Nearly Nets Own Goal

Sevilla hit back not long after through Nemanja Gudelj’s header and Arsenal were forced to dig in for the latter stages of the match. Although the Spanish side enjoyed plenty of possession and had the Gunners penned back inside their own 18-yard box at times, they created relatively few chances of note – though Raya did prompt one heart-in-mouth moment right at the death.

The Brentford loanee, who has displaced Aaron Ramsdale in the side, left his line to try and punch a cross but got it horribly wrong, with the ball ending up spinning off his fist and looping backwards. His team-mates watched on with open mouths as the ball appeared to be heading into the goal, but it dipped just a few inches above the crossbar and nestled on the roof of the net to the relief of Raya and his defence.

Owen Criticises Raya’s Display

After getting lobbed by Mykhaylo Mudryk in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea, as well as making several mistakes with the ball, pressure is starting to heat up on Raya. Owen feels he gave another sloppy display against Sevilla while Keown branded the goalkeeper situation a ‘pantomime’ during post-match punditry for TNT Sports, with both unable to resist a chuckle when re-watching the incident.

Asked if his latest gaffe was a particularly bad one, Owen replied: ‘Yeah. Listen, all eyes are on Raya at the moment. If you’re keeping clean sheets all the time no-one says anything. But because of what’s happened in the past, every single thing he does we end up scrutinising and saying, “Ooh would Ramsdale have done that?” and, “Ooh should they be playing out in that situation?”’

He continued: ‘He came for a cross, he went to punch it, he miscued it a little bit and it nearly spun into his own goal. He had a couple of little mistakes in the first half as well trying to play out. But at the end of the day we’re nit-picking and that is a cracking result for Arsenal. I think they’d have been happy coming away not getting beat tonight, but to get the three points puts them in a really strong position now.’

Conclusion

Arsenal’s win over Sevilla was a huge boost for Mikel Arteta’s side, who have been struggling for form in recent weeks. David Raya was heavily criticised by Michael Owen for his performance, particularly for his near own goal in the dying moments of the match. However, despite this mistake, Arsenal managed to hold on for an important three points.