Raya urges Arsenal to cut out turnovers after Prague scare

David Raya has called on Arsenal to improve their control of matches after a difficult second half in Wednesday's Champions League victory at Slavia Prague. In comments to TNT Sports reported by GOAL, the goalkeeper said the visitors had struggled to respond when their opponents increased the intensity.

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Raya identified possession losses as a central problem. Slavia pressed higher after the interval, he explained, while Arsenal repeatedly surrendered the ball in attacking areas and had to retreat towards their own goal. He wanted his team to retain possession more effectively and continue seeking goals rather than allow opponents to build pressure.

Slavia's official match report detailed how Arsenal established their advantage before the break. Noni Madueke opened the scoring, and Viktor Gyokeres added the second in the 38th minute with an effort that went in off the far post. Home goalkeeper Nazar Domchak also denied Mikel Merino an opportunity to extend the visitors' lead.

The hosts changed personnel at half-time, introducing Ange N'Guessan and Mojmir Chytil for Suleiman and Sturm. Their report described a succession of second-half attacks, including an effort from David Zima that cleared the crossbar. Arsenal still created opportunities of their own, with Domchak stopping an angled attempt from Madueke.

Raya then made a decisive intervention when Oskar Kubiak met Tomas Holes's delivery with a header. The goalkeeper kept it out with help from the post. Wiktor Nowak eventually scored in the 90th minute, with VAR confirming the goal, but Slavia could not complete their comeback during five minutes of added time.

Speaking about his contribution, Raya said he was pleased to help and described preventing goals as an important part of winning matches. His assessment nevertheless focused on the collective performance: Arsenal had created chances and controlled the first half, but needed to learn from the contrasting period after the restart.

Separately, the Guardian reported that Raya sees Arsenal's Champions League final defeat by Paris Saint-Germain as motivation to improve this season. His immediate message after Prague was that victory still left work to do.