Ramsdale reaction speaks volumes after Raya heroics help Arsenal beat Porto
Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale showed his togetherness with David Raya after Arsenal's victory over Porto, giving his colleague a big hug after the final whistle despite losing his starting spot to the Spaniard.
Ramsdale spent the entirety of last season as first choice, only for Raya to take the spot shorty after joining on loan from Brentford. The new first-choice was between the sticks against Porto on Tuesday, and saved penalties from Wendell and Galeno to send his team into the quarter-finals.
It has been a tough week for Ramsdale, who gifted Brentford a goal in Saturday's Premier League meeting. Arsenal won that game, though, and beat Porto 1-0 in 90 minutes before the shoot-out win.
Bukayo Saka was full of praise for Raya after the game, but he wasn't the only one. And in rushing to congratulate his fellow keeper, Ramsdale demonstrated the solidarity running through Mikel Arteta's squad.
"You have to give so much credit to Porto, they have frustrated Arsenal tonight but those key moments, David Raya tonight, he is the hero. He made two fantastic saves," former Arsenal star Theo Walcott told BBC Radio 5 Live.
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"The first person to get over to congratulate him was Aaron Ramsdale. It just shows the togetherness in this team, a culture Mikel Arteta has created."
Back in October, Raya had shed light on the "very good" relationship enjoyed by the pair. "At the end of the day, we are mates, which is the important thing," he told The Athletic. "We have a very healthy relationship. There are no problems."
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David Raya was embraced by Aaron Ramsdale after the final whistle (Twitter/footballontnt)"Obviously it's a great feeling for me personally," Raya told TNT Sports after the game. "First time in the Champions League and for the club to get into the quarter-finals for the first time in so many years.
"We played a really good game from the start. We dominated, created chances and it went down to penalties. We've worked a lot on penalties this year and all the hard work with the goalie coach and the team has paid off.
"A great moment personally and collectively. I'm over the moon to save two penalties in the Champions League to get through to the quarter-finals. They made it so difficult over there, they played their game, but we scored the goal we needed and it went down to penalties and it was a crazy moment."
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