Aaron Ramsdale seemed to chuckle at his Arsenal teammate David Raya following the keeper’s two mistakes against Luton Town on Tuesday.
Despite Raya’s errors, Arsenal rallied to a 4-3 victory, with Declan Rice scoring the decisive goal in the 97th minute, extending their lead at the top of the table to five points.
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While Raya wasn’t at fault for Luton’s first-half opener, he committed a significant error for the second goal and could have done better to prevent the third.
Despite Ramsdale’s impressive form, Raya, signed last summer, quickly surpassed the English goalkeeper in the team hierarchy.
Viewers of Amazon’s match coverage noticed Ramsdale seemingly laughing at a replay of the third goal, but he promptly dropped his smile upon realizing the cameras were on him.
This contrasts with an earlier incident in the season when Raya made a remarkable save against Manchester City, prompting Ramsdale to give him a standing ovation.
Ramsdale’s reaction to Raya’s errors ????????
— Prize Harvest with Hai Kavertz (@havertzooc) December 6, 2023
For his part, Mikel Arteta refused to even discuss Raya’s display, telling Amazon post-match: ‘I’m so happy with the team.’
Pressed for an opinion on Raya, he added: ‘I have spoken with all the team and they are jumping. I’m a really happy manager today.’
Asked again by the BBC about the mistakes, the manager said: ‘It’s part of the job, but I’m really happy with the team so let’s move on.’
He was more open about the matter in his post-match press conference, saying: ‘We have to defend better the situations as a team. There are certain things leading to the goals.
‘It’s not about blaming. We have never done it and we won’t do it now.’
But Premier League legend Alan Shearer did not hold back in criticising Raya, he said: ‘It’s the obsession with having a footballing goalkeeper these days where you forget the fundamentals of shot stopping and collecting a cross.
‘Raya never looks comfortable from the cross. It’s a huge error from the goalkeeper.’
