Mikel Arteta’s side left Prague with three points on Wednesday, but David Raya was in no mood to dress up the 2-1 win as comfortable. The Spaniard spent most of the second half scrambling to contain a Slavia Prague side that had barely got out of its own half before the break.
At one stage Oskar Kubiak forced Raya into a diving stop that pushed the ball onto his own post, with Gabriel Magalhaes also clearing a header off the goal line. Raya told Goal the moment felt familiar.
“It was really close, it was very similar to the last one against Bayern. I’m delighted to help the team that way.”
Seventeen second-half shots
Arsenal had been in full control in the first half. Viktor Gyokeres slid Noni Madueke through on goal in the ninth minute for the opener, and the Sweden striker added a second of his own in the 38th with a finish from a tight angle.
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The pattern flipped at half-time. Slavia registered 17 shots after the break and finally got one past Raya in the 90th minute through substitute Wiktor Nowak, before the Gunners saw out five minutes of stoppage time.
Raya was candid about where the trouble started.
“We had too many giveaways, especially in the final third, which meant we were running back towards our goal,” he told Goal, adding that Arsenal should have put the tie beyond reach while they were on top in the first half.
Gyokeres back on the Champions League scoresheet
According to Goal, the second goal was Gyokeres’s first open-play Champions League goal since he struck against Kairat Almaty in January, a run he had been trying to end for most of the current league-phase campaign.
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The Sweden international had also teed up Madueke’s opener, giving him a direct hand in both Arsenal goals on a night he needed one.
Arteta: hard place to win
Arteta kept his own verdict brief. The Spaniard told Arab News his side deserved credit for coming through a hostile away fixture.
“We have to value the fact that it’s very difficult to win away from home. We’ve done it against a really tough opponent, as we expected.”
The result lifts Arsenal to third in the Champions League table on 10 points from four matches, keeping them in the automatic last-16 places as the league phase passes its halfway mark.
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Arteta’s side are back in action on Saturday 7 November, when Hull City visit the Emirates on Premier League matchday 10.
