David Raya’s Save Against Brighton Nominated for Save of the Season
David Raya’s flying fingertip stop against Brighton & Hove Albion has been shortlisted for the Premier League’s Save of the Season, a fitting spotlight moment in a campaign already crowned with the Golden Glove.
The Arsenal goalkeeper earned December’s Save of the Month for the intervention, a split-second of pure instinct in a tight 2-1 win at the Emirates. With the game on a knife-edge, Yankubah Minteh bent a curling effort towards the top left corner, the kind of strike that usually rips past despairing hands and into highlight reels.
Raya refused to play his part as a bystander. He launched himself to his right, body fully extended, and somehow managed to flick the ball away with an outstretched right hand. It was the sort of save that silences a stadium for half a beat before the noise returns, louder and more disbelieving than before.
That award in December pushed Raya level at the top of the Premier League’s Save of the Month leaderboard, joining Andre Onana and Jordan Pickford on three wins apiece. Now his season’s signature stop stands in a final shootout against the division’s best.
Shortlist for Save of the Season
- James Trafford - Manchester City
- Gianluigi Donnarumma - Manchester City
- Martin Dubravka - Burnley
- Jordan Pickford - Everton
- Alphonse Areola - West Ham United
- Aaron Ramsdale - Newcastle United
- Karl Darlow - Leeds United
- Antonin Kinsky - Tottenham Hotspur
One moment, one reach, one touch of the glove. Raya has already turned that December night into a personal milestone. The question now is whether it becomes the defining save of the Premier League season.
