Backup goalkeeper David Ospina’s display in the Arsenal goal earned him fulsome praise from Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino as the Colombian showed there’s life beyond Petr Cech.
Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to Swansea had only been made worse when Arsenal number one Cech pulled up with a hamstring injury as he sprinted back towards goal having gone forward for a last minute corner.
That meant Ospina was pressed into his first league appearance since May 2015 and just a third start since the horrifying events of September’s 3-2 loss at home to Olympiakos, when the goalkeeper had dropped the ball into his own net from a corner.
With a makeshift backline lacking Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal in front of him Ospina proved himself to be a more than adequate backup, and perhaps even justified his own recent agitating for a transfer. Certainly he offered a bold riposte to those who doubted his ability in the Premier League.
Ospina made nine saves in the 2-2 draw against Spurs, the most by any Arsenal goalkeeper in nearly seven years. And these were no ordinary efforts, with a stunning reaction block from a close-range Erik Lamela effort kick-starting a resilient display by the Colombian.
Just moments after Francis Coquelin had been sent off for a moment of rash stupidity Ospina seemed to set the tone for a dramatic rearguard as he blocked a Harry Kane shot from behind the goal-line. Tottenham players insisted to Michael Olivier that it had gone over the line but the technology proved them wrong.
It was hardly his fault that his team-mates were not live to Erik Lamela’s knock-down for Toby Alderweireld’s equaliser. Nor that Per Mertesacker dawdled and found his pocket picked by Dele Alli as Harry Kane curled in a stunning second for Spurs.
Though a point was earned it came less from defensive excellence than Spurs own lackadaisical efforts at the back. However Ospina’s display was sufficiently impressive for Mauricio Pochettino to cite it as a mitigating factor in his side’s failure to claim the three points.
“I think Ospina was one of the best players on the pitch,” Pochettino said afterwards,. He was not wrong.
Ospina was not the only peripheral Arsenal figure to impress as several reserves, some appearing by default but others such as Mohamed Elneny and Danny Welbeck through a desire to freshen up the side, offering plenty to suggest that Wenger has options aplenty despite the usual cavalcade of injuries.
COMMENTS