Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images

News

HomeNewsArsenalEnglish Premier League

Thomas Frank spotted one ‘mistake’ £27m Arsenal star almost made vs Brentford that could’ve cost the Gunners

Shamanth Jayaram

Thu 2 January 2025 6:55, UK

Arsenal picked up a well-deserved 3-1 win against Brentford in their first game of 2025.

The Gunners ended last year on a high, winning three games in a row. A trip to the Gtech Community Stadium to kick off the new year was a difficult task, but Mikel Arteta’s men came out on top.

Goa🔥ls from Gabriel Je൩sus, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli sealed a great win for Arsenal, and Arteta was a happy man after the game.

Brentford boss Thomas Frank, on the other hand, was disappointed because he felt that the game could’ve changed completely after one momen💜t in the f🌃irst half.

Thomas Frank highlights David Raya’s ‘mistake’ during Brentford vs Arsenal

On New Year’s Day, David Raya played against Brentford for the🎃 first time since leaving them to join Arsenal.

The Spaniard playe𓃲d 161 games for the Bees during his time there, andﷺ despite his departure, he is adored by everyone at the club.

Returning to Brentford following his £27 million () move last summer must havꦑe been emotional for Raya, and the 29-year-old almost suffered a humiliatin꧒g moment.

In the first half, just 55 seconds before Arsenal’s equaliser, Raya made a meal out of what seemed to༺ be a straightforward save, and the ball was inches away from finding the back of the net.

Thankfully for Arsenal, the Euro 2024 winner managed to recover and pushed the bal🍒l away to safety.

In his post-match interview on TNT Sports, Frank highlighted Raya’s error and claimed that the result could’ve been completely d😼ifferent if the Arsenal star had failed to rectify 𝓀his mistake.

He said: “Overall, I think we did well, it was the finest of margins that𝔉 we need to do better. We scored a great goal and just before their equaliser, it is like this (gestures𝕴 it was really close).

“Then (if the ball had gone in), we are 2-0 up, it was a mꦐistake from Dav🎃id (Raya). Small margins, at 2-0, it’s a different game. Anyway, we need to do better on the 1-1 goal.”

READ MORE: Steve Round shares if the signing of Dไavid Raya actually forced him to leave Arsenal

David Raya’s stats for Arsenal are exceptional

There was a lot of debate when Arteta decided to make Raya Arsenal’♈s number on❀e ahead of Aaron Ramsdale in the 2023/24 season.

The Arsenal manager came under enormous criticism – not just f🌸rom the pundits and media but from his own fans as well.

However, Arteta’s decision has been proven right.

ꦡAs 🐼the table shows above, Raya keeps a clean sheet almost every other game for Arsenal. He also concedes an average of just around 0.7 goals a game.

That is a phenomenal return for any goalkeeper, and to add to that, the Spain international pulls off a few incredible saves from time to time as w🌺ell.

Raya has been one of 🐓Arsenal’s best pla🔥yers this season. Withoဣut him, the Gunners would be in a worse position in the table.