‘Wow, magical’ – Gary Neville blown away by Arsenal star v Villa, claims he outshone Trossard after unbelievable action
Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners against Aston Villa at Villa Park today, with second-half goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey handing the Gunners valuable three points away from home.
The North Londoners kicked off the 2024-25 Premier League campaign with a 2-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend and were impressive against the Midlands club today despite a shaky start.
Trossard came off to bench to grab the opener for Arsenal in the 67th minute before Partey doubled their lead ten minutes later, but it was a moment of brilliance from David Raya shortly before the deadlock was broken which blew Gary Neville away.
The Spain international goalkeeper made a double save in the 54th minute, pushing an effort from Amadou Onana which deflected off Gabriel Magalhaes and looped up in the air onto the bar.
Ollie Watkins was there for the follow-up and had the whole goal gaping, but he fired it straight at Raya, who pulled off a superb save from the rebound against all odds.
“How Raya reacts, wow. He comes from nowhere,” Neville reacted on Sky Sports immediately afterwards.
The header had a 0.55 xG (expected goal), and Villa could not believe the England international striker missed such a chance.
The Arsenal goalie produced a huge save, and Neville showered praise on him after the game.
“The moment of the match was the save from Raya,” he continued.
“Trossard has an incredible impact but this is magical. I can’t believe he’s got up – he’s thrown himself into the back of the net.”
The match could have ended differently had Villa scored, but the save from Raya saved the day, and Arsenal took their chances afterwards to send a message to their title rivals.
The Gunners lost home and away to Villa last season, and those dropped six points proved very costly in the end as Manchester City pipped them to the title by two points.
Arsenal return to action next Saturday when they host Brighton & Hove Albion, and they will be keen to make it three straight wins and keep building momentum.
