Atalanta 0-0 Arsenal
GEWISS STADIUM — Why were Arsenal playing on a Thursday night? Why indeed, but with Manchester City to come on Sunday at least David Raya will be heading to the Etihad on a high after his stunning double save denied Atalanta in this goalless Champions League opener.
Avoiding Thursday nights in Europe were among Mikel Arteta’s primary objectives when taking charge, but to riff on the Arsenal boss’ own words, here we were.
In Uefa parlance, this was an “exclusive match week” for its crown jewel in its new guise, while for Arsenal this throwback to their Europa League years made for an uncomfortable night, albeit helped by Raya’s second-half heroics – first saving Mateo Retegui’s penalty and then quickly recovering to keep the resulting header out too.
“I witnessed probably two of the best saves I’ve seen in my career,” Arteta said. “Today he kept us in the game, that’s the reality, I’m really happy he’s in the form he’s in at the moment.”
Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini added: “He’s a cat.”
DAVID RAYA, TAKE A BOW!
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One of the best double saves you'll ever see
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Onto Sunday, swiftly, will be the focus now, with Arteta and his squad afforded just two full days to recover and train before a match that is likely to have a major say in the Premier League title race.
If like the rest of us Arteta was miffed by the timing of this European match, he refused to show it, nor did he display any frustration that Arsenal were in Bergamo a day after City played at home.
“It’s different but here we are,” were the opening words of his Wednesday press conference, and on this novel occasion – bizarrely, it is the one and only Thursday pencilled in for this Champions League campaign – he instead chose to focus on the positive of an extra day’s rest from the derby win over Tottenham.
Arteta was also true to his word on naming a strong starting XI, with Declan Rice returning to midfield and Gabriel Jesus up front. In Martin Odegaard’s ongoing absence – their captain out for “a while” with ankle ligament damage – Kai Havertz dropped to midfield.
The City meeting, less than 72 hours away at the time of kick-off here, therefore had to be put on the backburner, and Arsenal unsurprisingly started with intent, going close a couple of times before Bukayo Saka’s low free-kick forced a decent stop from Marco Carnesecchi.
Smart work down the left then saw Gabriel Martinelli fire over when off balance, while Atalanta’s first real chance fell when Charles De Ketelaere hastily shot wide just before the half-hour mark.
Atalanta were otherwise reduced to ineffective crosses in the first half, but a purple patch from the hosts resulted in Arteta’s grievances visibly growing as he conducted his players from the sidelines.
The early momentum had gone, mistakes were creeping in, and a half that began with promise ended goalless, as Atalanta – who have drawn at home with Manchester City and Manchester United in recent years, and beat Liverpool en route to Europe League glory last season – showed they were no slouches.
A huddle before the second half was followed by stand-in captain Jesus gesturing for his teammates to start as they had begun the first half, but it could hardly have gone worse, with referee Clement Turpin pointing to the penalty spot within three minutes after Thomas Partey was deemed to have fouled Ederson.
A lengthy VAR check did not change the outcome, but Raya used that time to run to the bench and speak with Arsenal’s goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana for some last-minute advice.
It did the trick, with Raya ensuring the match remained all-square with a remarkable double save, first diving to his right to keep out Retegui’s penalty before then making a sublime stop to his left to keep the forward’s header out as well.
On came Leandro Trossard and Jorginho for Jesus and Partey, and then with 16 minutes to go, Martinelli spurned a brilliant opportunity to put Arsenal ahead, shooting over when through on goal but again seemingly unbalanced.
The Brazilian should have done better, but he snatched at it, and from there Arsenal appeared content with settling for a hard-earned point. What impact this will have against City, and what Arteta truly felt about it all, we’ll perhaps only find out on Sunday evening.
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