Arsenal put together a video to celebrate some of the best saves of the year from their first-team goalkeepers, so let’s a look at each of them.
Petr Čech and David Ospina may not have had the best year of their career with the Gunners in 2017, but they made a few top quality saves.
Plus, they added an FA Cup and Community Shield to their personal trophy cabinets.
Here are the saves Arsenal picked out as the best this year:
Petr Čech vs Southampton (A)
The first stop is Čech’s acrobatic effort to turn away a long-range strike from Nathan Redmond. He hit the ball powerfully, and it moved in the air, so Petr did well to get a hand to it. The 35-year-old ended up keeping a clean sheet that day, as Arsenal won 2-0.
David Ospina vs Chelsea (N)
One of the key saves of the FA Cup campaign, Ospina had to be quick to get his body behind Costa’s late effort. The Colombian had already conceded one to a deflected effort, but this time kept the Spaniard out. It ended up being a crucial save, as Arsenal won the final 2-1. Nacho Monreal certainly knew how important it was, as he celebrated the save like a goal.
Petr Čech vs Tottenham Hotspur (A)
This was a day to forget for every Arsenal player except Čech. The Gunners were terrible, but the former Chelsea keeper bailed them out time and again. This was his most impressive save, from a left-footed strike by Jan Vertonghen. In the end, Spurs won anyway, but it could’ve been much more embarrassing than it was.
Petr Čech vs Manchester City (A)
Although Arsenal conceded three goals in this game, when the assistant referee decided the offside rule didn’t exist, Čech did well to prevent further damage. The ball landed at Gabriel Jesus’ feet, and it seemed only a formality that he’d put it away. But the Gunners’ goalkeeper scrambled across his line and made the save, pushing the ball away from the danger area.
David Ospina vs Bayern Munich (A)
Ospina made the point-blank save of the year from Bayern’s Javi Martinez in this one. Martinez won the aerial duel to powerfully head a corner towards the 29-year-old’s net. But the goalkeeper reacted quickly, with a strong hand to deflect the ball up and away. It was a fantastic reflex save, and I don’t recall what happened in the rest of the tie. Look it up yourselves.