David Raya: Mikel Arteta Defends Arsenal Keeper After Blunder During North London Derby

• David Raya was at fault during Arsenal's Premier League clash with Spurs
• The goalkeeper's blunder led to Christian Romero's goal in the second half
• The Gunners won the game 3-2, with Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz scoring

Mikel Arteta has defended David Raya following his goalkeeping blunder in the North London derby clash between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

The two Premier League giants played out to a five-goal thriller on Sunday, April 28, with the Gunners securing all three points.

Arteta's men appeared to be in control of the tie early on, only for Spurs to nearly stage a dramatic comeback in the second half of the game.

Arsenal took the lead inside 15 minutes of action through Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who directed the ball into his own net, with Bukayo Saka doubling the lead in the 27th minute.

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Kai Havertz, who has been in sensational form, made it 3-0 just 10 minutes later as the visitors went into the break with a comfortable lead.

However, they had to survive a second-half scare from the hosts, who netted twice via Christian Romero and Heung-Min Son.

Romero found the back of the net with the help of Raya, who inexplicably shot the ball straight to the Tottenham ace.

Arteta defends Raya's mistake

Raya's blunder sparked outrage from a section of Arsenal fans, who called out the Spaniard for nearly costing them the match.

However, Arteta has jumped to the defence of his goalkeeper, with the Arsenal boss applauding his star man for his reaction after the goal.

"It’s part of football," Arteta told reporters per Metro UK when asked about the mistake that led to Romero’s goal.

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"What I love is that David does [the mistake], he picks Gabriel Magalhaes up - that is quite heavy - and then he was sensational in the last 20 to 25 minutes of the game," he added.

The Gunners are scheduled to play Bournemouth in their next EPL fixture before taking on rivals, Manchester United, at Old Trafford.

Raya speaks on his costly error

In related news, Sports Brief reported on Raya breaking silence on his error against Tottenham.

The Spanish keeper addressed his critical mistake after the match as Arsenal survived a scare.