David Ospina’s man of the match performance against PSG on Tuesday night means he’ll almost certainly get the nod for the team’s next Champions League fixture – at home to FC Basel in a couple of weeks time.
The Colombian started his first game of the season and kept Arsenal alive at times with some outstanding goalkeeping. He had been widely tipped to leave this summer, but has obviously had some assurances from Arsene Wenger that he’d be given chances in the side.
And he was keen to show his stuff last night in Paris.
“We all try to make the most of every chance,” he said. “This was a good match to show what I can do. I have to keep on working and make the most of every moment I get to play.”
Ospina got the backing of his manager post-game too, who said, “Tonight he showed his detractors, those who doubted him, that he is a very good goalkeeper.
“Last year he made a mistake in the Champions League and everyone jumped all over him. He showed what he’s about tonight.”
Check out a gallery of Ospina’s saves from last night (via r/gunners)
Ooooooooospiiina!
The only thing I registered in my mind from that match was Ospina was brilliant and we got a point away at PSG. Every other detail has been deleted.
I quite enjoyed the goal too though. Nice exchanges around the box created a passing lane that only Ozil could find to create the scoring opportunity, and what a blast from Alexis on the rebound.
The other thing that registered for me was how rubbish Cavani was, and how some fans on here were screaming for Wenger to dish out $65 million on him…
There is a reason why Wenger doesn’t generally need to listen to some fans.
Regardless of how good Ospina is – and he was excellent yesterday – he is still recognised as the second-choice goalkeeper. For me, it still sends the wrong signal to the rest of the team, that we’re not taking this game as seriously as we could – this is the Champions League, for goodness’ sake! Again, no slight against Ospina, but all of us looked at the team sheet last night and wondered why we weren’t fielding all our strongest players, or why Alexis was up front again. Is it not reasonable to assume that the players themselves might be… Read more »
It might be sending a signal, but if we don’t give Ospina matches he’ll leave and we’ll be even worse off. If this is what it took to make him stay, be happy and compete then it’s the right choice and Arsenal is better of for it.
Totally agree. The signal is that we have 2 world class keepers & they will both get chances to play, assuming that they keep their performances up. But they need to keep working to play well, otherwise the other guy will take their playing time. I have no problem with that message. It keeps both players on their toes, & it means both of them are ready to play when needed.
Great attitude! And what a night he had. How many times after the initial goal I thought “fuck, here comes the 2nd”- and he saved them all!
That was a world class performance if I ever saw one, probably the only player who came to play ball in Paris, but hey, we grinded out two results in 4 days, let’s dominate our next games and all will be well. I really think Xhaka should start again, he was marvelous against Watford and it’s really weird seeing him on the bench in two consecutive matches. We have all the right pieces, let’s put them together! I don’t even mind Giroud being sent off, the second yellow clearly wasn’t his fault, and he didn’t take shit from anyone when… Read more »
Ospina is the best i rate him higher than Cech
A world class performance if I’ve ever seen one. I am eating my words and loving it! Yep!
I was one of those “detractors” that thought Arsene has gone totally bonkers for picking him ahead of Cech when i saw the team sheet, and boy!….did he prove me wrong!
We owe a debt of gratitude to Ospina,who in the past has been subjected to a great deal of flak from the fans. We managed to grind out a point,but that’s all well and good; to do so all the time is not foolproof. If PSG’s Cavani was not so awful at finishing,we would have been dead and buried prior to half time. A point is better than a loss,ye,s but we must do better next time.
Ospina proved many doubters ( including my humble self) wrong last night and reminded us that he is truly a world class goal keeper and not Colombian number one keeper by accident. Keep up the good work Ospina what a man of the match performance.
I wasn’t overly surprised Ospinna was picked, Cech is great but no longer in his prime. Matter of fact none of the line up picks shocked me. I think the game plan was cracked with that early goal and took time to repair. Kolcieny said it best, the team tends to switch off or go through the gears from the start too slowly, we’ve conceded almost all our goals this season in the first twenty minutes (of the second half against Liverpool). We have to fix that. I feel like we miss Alexis and Ramsey or perhaps Campbell on the… Read more »
Did anyone noticed that luck have finally come back to the team?I think that’s what we’ve been missing for a very longtime.
Now we’re just missing playing well
Ospina’s shot stopping was absolutely excellent last night, but does anyone else think his distribution is poor? I got nervous every time the ball was at his feet, especially after his pass led to the Di Maria chance. Is it my imagination that Cech plays less risky passes?
I think he’s normally very good with his short passing and he’s very nimble on the ball for a keeper, much more so than Cech, although Cech’s decision making is rock solid.
I think his long clearances aren’t great though, he struggles sometimes to get it past the half way line.
hehehehehe….Spurs welcomd to Champions League
I dunno any team that would lose to Monaco.:P
Wait a minute…
😀
Media crickets.