ARSENAL fans’ hearts were in their mouths when Atalanta’s Mateo Retegui appeared odds-on to header a rebound home from his saved penalty.
But, hero of the hour David Raya, 29, pulled off the most epic of double saves to ensure the Gunners ended up unscathed in their Champions League opener in Bergamo.
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Just 10 years ago, the Spain international was turning out for non-league Southport.
However, it was a moment at Blackburn that would define the shotstopper’s incredible courage and bravery.
It was an incident that could have, ultimately, put an end to Raya’s career before he would become No1 at the Emirates.
In a collision with West Brom’s Jay Rodriguez at the Hawthorns, the former Brentford goalie suffered a serious face-altering injury.
Medics rushed to the pitch to give him oxygen, as he lay stricken on a stretcher.
He was immediately hospitalised, where he was treated for his injury.
Former Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray revealed the sickening extent of the blow in his post-match interview.
‘His nose was almost pushed into his skull’
Speaking to BBC Sport, Mowbray revealed: “The players were feeling sick with what they saw.
“He is in hospital. The bone at the top has been pushed into the skull almost and the nose is sort of hanging off really. The players could not look at it, it was that bad.”
Baggies forward Rodriguez was equally as shocked and revealed he was devastated about what happened.
He said: “It’s not nice to see. I was chasing the ball, I tried to get out of the way but I’ve caught him with the top of my foot.
“I’ve been told he’s gone to hospital and I’m gutted about that.”
Luckily, Raya’s injury was less serious than first feared.
When he returned, he wore a protective mask for two weeks.
He did have to have nose reconstruction surgery, but waited until the end of the season.
At the time, Raya told the Lancashire Telegraph: “It’s not impeding me to breathe or anything and if I had the surgery now [during that season], I would be out for six to eight weeks.
“I think it’s the right decision to wait, even though my nose isn’t the same.
“It can happen to anyone, it can happen with a header to a centre-back, so that won’t change my type of play or anything.”
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Non-league start
Before Raya’s move to North London was completed this summer in a £27million deal, he was plying his trade in the lower leagues.
Raya joined Blackburn when he was just 15 from third tier Spanish side UE Cornella for the meagre fee of just £10,000.
For the 2014-2015 season, he was loaned out to non-league Southport to ease their relegation fears from the Conference Premier at that time.
“He was a young goalkeeper right down the pecking order at Blackburn,” ex-manager Gary Brabin said.
“You’re thinking, ‘is he going to be experienced enough for this relegation battle?’ Because you need strong characters.
“A new manager comes in, the team is bottom of the league and a lot of people’s heads were down and they were considering what’s next. But that wasn’t the case with David. He was an unbelievable character, confident and bubbly and it was lovely to feed off that and spread it among the squad. It was a great team spirit.
“It was his feet that really impressed me. The way David was so confident, we played a lot more football on the ground than other teams at our level and we quickly got out of those bottom four places. He was integral to that because of how good he was.
“We felt safe having him at the back and it wasn’t just keeping the ball out, he was starting our play. He was our starting point and it was successful for us.”
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Establishing himself
By the 2017-18 season, 6ft Raya established himself as Rovers No1.
His ability on the ball, as well as his cat-like reflexes propelled his side to promotion from League One to the Championship.
One thing that stood out amongst his peers were the size of his hands.
Former player coach at Rover, Steven Drench, who Raya once called his mentor, also revealed how the future Prem keeper stood out amongst his peers.
“The thing about David is he’s not your normal 6ft 4in, 6ft 5in goalkeeper and he’s been fighting against that stereotype,” Drench told Sky Sports.
“So, he has to have that little bit more spring, power and athleticism.
“You have to be able to make those saves that would be top-drawer saves. But the way he moves around the goal and the way he plays with his feet makes him the all-round package.
“When he made a save, we’d always joke that he’d spin on his bum and go the other way. I didn’t want to take that away from him because he could cover the goal that quickly.
“You see some of the saves he makes now, he’s saving the ball two or three yards past his post because his feet are that quick. He’s that agile and powerful that when he does take that step, he’s covering more of the goal. He’s making difficult saves look very, very easy.
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“And if you ever meet him, he has hands like shovels, they’re massive.”
It’s those shovels Ollie Watkins and now Mateo Retegui can testify thwarted their goal efforts.
