Arsenal: David Ospina Should Not Have To Keep Reminding Us
Arsenal were saved against PSG in Paris, not by Petr Cech or Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sanchez, but by David Ospina. How odd is that?
There was a lot of outcry against Arsene Wenger for his squad choices. Arsenal were facing PSG, not Ludogorets. The A-team should have been in there, not this amalgamation of A-teamers and reserves.
Related: 5 Things We Learned Against PSG
There were gripes about Alexis Sanchez starting up top, Coquelin starting in the middle and, last but certainly not least, Ospina in goal. The Colombian shot stopper had a howler against Olympiakos last year despite fully recovering from it later in the season.
But I guess that one match was still fresh enough in people’s minds to have them strongly opposed to welcoming him back between the posts.
It didn’t start well. 44 seconds into the match, Arsenal capitulated to the pressure and PSG scored. In a photo that is now famous, Cavani is running off as the ball goes into the net and Ospina looks like he is trying to hug an invisible child. It’s not good. But to be fair, Ospina had zero chance. His defense left him stranded and they would continue to.
Yet, after that moment, there is no mistaking who saved the game. It was the very man in question. Arsenal’s defense was not holding together their organization against a quick counter attacking PSG and it left Ospina in far too many awkward situations. yet in every situation, he prevailed. For over 90 minutes he kept the Parisians out of the goal and, without him, this match could have been three, even four to one.
More from Pain in the Arsenal
It’s always a nice reminder to see just how talented Ospina is. Especially because I feel like it is forgotten all too often. Ospina is a fantastic shot stopper. We saw it when he filled in for Cech last year. We saw it when he took over for Szcsesny the year before that. We will continue to see it in the Champions League and hopefully every other side competition this year as well because he deserves it.
Wenger was quick to praise the Colombian following the match:
“This was maybe his [Ospina] most influential performance for us,” he said, via the Daily Mail. “I have two world-class goalkeepers. I can give them both games. If they do not play, you can’t keep two world-class goalkeepers.”
He then went on to say what we all already assumed. “On what he delivered tonight, he has the right to stay in the team for the next Champions League game.”
Ospina has indeed earned that right. Maybe if he does this enough we will stop forgetting how good he actually is.
This article originally appeared on 
