Raya gloves pressure of race for title

ARSENAL keeper David Raya is embracing the pressure of the title race – despite his gaffe in the North London derby.

Raya made a rare error when his poor pass let in Tottenham defender Cristian Romero, giving Spurs a way back into the game when the Gunners had been cruising.

It stopped Arsenal from keeping a seventh consecutive clean sheet away from home, but Raya (above) says his mistake was not a sign of him feeling the heat.

When asked whether he is enjoying the pressure of the title race following the 3-2 win, Raya said: “I am! I like challenges and I don’t feel under pressure.

“When things are pressure, it’s an opportunity to show what you are capable of. I am really enjoying this challenge.

“It is massive winning the north London derby. I know what it means to the fans, to the club, to the players.

“The last few minutes was a little bit nervous for the fans, but we got the three points and that’s the most important thing.”

Raya was brought in to the team ahead of fans’ favourite Aaron Ramsdale and, after being under the spotlight for so long, no one can really argue any more about his merits.

The Spain international has made playing out from the back an art form and that is why his mistake at Spurs (below) was so out of character.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was the first person to go over to Raya at the final whistle to reassure his keeper.

Raya said: “What he said was just about the character that I showed after the mistake. Mistakes are part of football and you learn from them.

“I was mentally very strong and I just forgot about the mistake. I showed that in the last 20 minutes.”

Raya says Arsenal must not worry about title rivals Manchester City and just have to focus on winning their final three games, starting with Bournemouth on Saturday.

He added: “Every game is important and we have got three games.

“We have to think about the next game, which is Bournemouth at home. We have to focus on that and learn from this game. There are things we can do better.

“We have to focus on ourselves, no matter what. We cannot focus on other teams.”