Ramsdale save is the best I’ve seen in years, declares Schmeichel
OUT of chaos comes a club striding at ever greater speeds. Out of a maligned transfer comes a goalkeeper doing remarkable things. Never a dull moment at Arsenal. Not one.
And so they are climbing. They are climbing up the table, and fast, just as that goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale, climbed through the air to pull off a save for the ages at 2-0 up in the first half.
You might have seen it by now. If you haven’t, it will pop up somewhere soon enough, old media or new. Stills or videos. You will see James Maddison bending a free-kick to the upper-right corner, and it is near enough perfect, a couple of yards in from the post and a couple down from the bar.
What happens next is the absurd bit. Ramsdale, that guy who cost close to £30million, notionally on the basis of being a substitute, took a leap. He dived to his left, full stretch, and with the ball just about beyond his bodyline, he arced his back and got his left hand to its underside. How he then rerouted the shot on to the bar is anyone’s guess.
‘Best save I’ve seen for years.’ That tweet was from Peter Schmeichel. He knows these things quite well. His lad, Kasper, was at the other end of the pitch, shaking his head. That just about covered it from Leicester’s perspective.
It was a stunning save, as was the block on Jonny Evans on the follow up. And the one to keep out Kelechi Iheanacho a short while beforehand. And those in the second half from Harvey Barnes and Ademola Lookman. There were more, nine shots on target through the match, and they all bounced back off the same green-shirted wall.
Leicester were storming this game in those moments, and Arsenal are Arsenal, so a collapse was always possible, even at 2-0 after 18 minutes.
Thanks to Ramsdale it did not materialise. Gabriel headed home Bukayo Saka’s corner in the fifth minute. Thirteen minutes later, Emile Smith-Rowe calmly finished from just inside the box when the Foxes failed to clear their lines.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said: I’ve just seen the picture of the save — it’s incredible. When I was looking at it, I said “goal” once and then twice. He saved them both.
‘Those moments, those individual actions and performances are very necessary when you want to have certain momentum and consistency.’