Mikel Arteta has praised the performance of David Raya after Arsenal escaped from Slavia Prague with a hard-fought Champions League win.
The North Londoners left Czechia with three points after a 2-1 victory, but did not have it all their own way. Arsenal led 2-0 at the interval in Prague, but a poor second-half showing allowed Slavia back into the game. Raya was forced into a series of saves after the break and Arteta was grateful for the quality of the Spanish shot-stopper.
“He had to show his quality again, much more than we expected,” Arteta said at full-time.
That’s to his credit, but we’re concerned about what happened before that, which is something that obviously isn’t what we’ve shown in the past.”
Arteta admitted his side were taught a ‘huge lesson’ after dropping their standard in the second half. However, he praised the Gunners for handling the challenge of another tough trip in European competition.
“I already talked about some of the things we didn’t do, and others I’d prefer not to mention. It’s a huge lesson, and we’ll learn from the second half. It’s our third away game in quick succession, and we’re the only team to have played three away games in the Champions League and just one at home – there are a lot of factors – but I don’t like to use that, because in the first half we were at the level we wanted. I take full responsibility for the drop in the second half.”
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