We kept our first Premier League clean sheet at the Emirates since May, in seeing off Manchester City on Sunday, and afterwards David Raya spoke about his joy and relief.
The keeper was playing just his sixth game for us, and recorded his fourth shut out, enabling us to take all three points when Gabriel Martinelli’s deflected effort found the net late on.
Afterwards Raya spoke about the importance of the win, the atmosphere inside the Emirates, and key moments in the game.
Here’s a full transcript of his post-match interview…
On the feeling in the dressing room…
The flavour is we are very happy with the three points. The clean sheet was very important at home especially, and the three points against City obviously. It’s a massive game especially before we head off for the international break, and we want to kick on before the next game against Chelsea.
On the winning goal…
It was something incredible and we feel a lot of relief as well. We were winning every single duel and creating chances, we were threatening them, so seeing that goal hitting the back of the net was amazing, and fair play to the players, to the club, to the staff that we were on top today.
On the game itself…
I think the first half was a little bit more edgy, they pressed very well. It was tough for us to play out from the back, so that’s why we tried a few more long balls, because when we were playing short, they were coming on top. We were giving them transitions, and we know they’re one of the best teams in transitions, so I think it was a good first half, but we could have done better. And that’s what we did in the second half, we came out knowing what we had to do, and we hurt them a lot with our threats especially in behind, and that’s why we won the game.
On building his relationship with the team…
Obviously we’re growing every single day, it’s still early days. I just need some more game time to get the relationship with them. Obviously, they’re great footballers, every single player has helped me to adapt to the team as much as possible, likewise with the staff.
On the atmosphere at the Emirates...
It’s incredible, it’s amazing, it’s one of the best stadiums in the world in my opinion and having the fans behind us is incredible. Home and away, we always need them, and they give us the extra edge, the extra energy, the extra gear that we need sometimes. The fans are top, it’s incredible to play for this football club.
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