It would have been the moment of the match, if not for VAR once again stealing the limelight. No surprises there, then.
David Raya had pulled off arguably Arsenal’s biggest save of their season, prior to unarguably the biggest VAR call in Premier League history.
There have been so many of them from the Spaniard this season, his catalogue of stops rivalling any goalkeeper in world football.
They include a stoppage-time save to deny Alejandro Garnacho against Chelsea on March 1 with the score 2-1, backpedalling to tip the ball beyond the far post; it required every drop of his athleticism. Arteta admitted afterwards: ‘My heart almost stopped. But David’s hand was there to bring it back to life.’
Back in December, he had thwarted Brighton at the Emirates with a wonder save to stop Yankuba Minteh’s curling strike.
Yet neither of those fine stops were quite as impressive as what the 30-year-old managed to pull off here on 78 minutes. Pablo prodded the ball through to Mateus Fernandes, who evaded Gabriel’s tackle and found himself one-v-one against Raya, with an age to pick his spot, too.
David Raya’s superb save to deny Mateus Fernandes will prove a key moment if the Gunners win the title
Mikel Arteta has heaped praise on the Spanish star, who has been crucial this season
He ought to have scored, trying to give the Spaniard the eyes, before shooting towards his near post — but Raya spread himself and stopped with his right leg. It was a stupendously good save, and typified how the Gunners have managed to stay ahead in games throughout much of this campaign.
Even when they are not at their best, Raya has stepped up on countless occasions to make the difference.
The VAR drama will naturally be the main talking point from this match. But once the dust settles, we should remember Raya’s heroics, too.
It also sealed an 18th clean sheet of the campaign and thus a third consecutive Premier League Golden Glove award, equalling a feat achieved by Pepe Reina, Ederson and Joe Hart. Declan Rice receives the plaudits most weeks for his performances, and rightly so, but Raya deserves just as much praise.
If Arsenal do lift a first title in 22 years, the contributions of Raya will take up a sizeable portion of their end-of-season montage.
What added to the brilliance of Raya’s save was the context of the situation. The pressure could not have been greater. Fernandes’ shot going in may well have been the moment Arsenal’s title dream ended.
Yet, Raya was, again, able to shut all that out and deliver. Having endured Kepa Arrizabalaga’s poor display in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, Raya’s availability has been paramount for Arsenal.
‘When you talk about magic moments, this is certainly one of the most needed moments, to pull off that save, it was incredible,’ purred Arteta.
The Premier League trophy, sporting red ribbons, made a pitchside appearance on an afternoon when Arsenal simply had to win to keep their title dream on track.
Anything other than three points would have swung the momentum back to Manchester City, who would’ve looked set to go on and seize the title.
Arsenal had seemingly already used up their nine lives. Then Raya reached back and found another in his pocket.
Arteta had opted for continuity, fielding an unchanged line-up for the third consecutive match, for the first time in two years.
That strive for stability went out the window on 28 minutes, Ben White taken off with a knee issue. You felt for him, a man who has endured many problems with his knee in the past year and a half — and now his World Cup dream is in serious jeopardy.
Martin Zubimendi came on, with Rice shifted to right back. The momentum suddenly shifted from complete, utter control to a sudden spike of confidence for West Ham.
A stoppage-time save to prevent Alejandro Garnacho from equalising for Chelsea in March is among his impressive catalogue of saves
Just before the end of the first half, Raya had to produce an excellent save to keep out Taty Castellanos’ header.
Arteta did the right thing, bringing Rice back to midfield, substituting Cristhian Mosquera on to play right back — and later giving Zubimendi the double-substitution treatment by taking him off for Kai Havertz. Ruthless, but necessary.
In the final third, Leandro Trossard deserves a mention, too. Arteta said in January that the diminutive Belgian had gone up a level every season. This afternoon proved his point perfectly.
Within the first 10 minutes, he had set up Riccardo Calafiori with a sublime instep pass, and came close with two headers: the first kept out by Mads Hermansen, the second by the post.
He carried on in that vein, threatening the West Ham backline with dainty runs and neat footwork. His match-winning goal, deflecting in off Tomas Soucek, was a product of his desire to score and get in the right positions.
However, the final word rests with Raya. The world’s best goalkeeper at present? You would be hard pressed to say otherwise.
