Tuesday night against Porto at the Emirates felt like a coming-of-age moment for David Raya.

His heroics in the shootout demonstrated his credentials as the Arsenal number one and perhaps, finally convinced many that he is rightfully ahead of Aaron Ramsdale in the pecking order. 

Throughout the season, much has been made of the decision by Mikel Arteta to bring Raya to the club.

Ramsdale is a hugely popular figure among the fanbase, so any replacement was always going to be scrutinized heavily. 

The English shot stopper began the season as first choice, but when the opportunity presented itself to bring Raya in from Brentford, a player who Arsenal held a long-standing interest in, the writing appeared to be on the wall for Ramsdale. 

On Tuesday night, Raya produced a player of the match performance.

The kind of display that justified his arrival, and in truth reflected the level he has been performing at for quite some time.

Calm throughout despite the intensity of the occasion, he stepped up in the penalty shootout to save twice and send Arsenal through to the quarter finals.

It is his ability to maintain the game plan regardless of what is going on around him that makes him so desirable to Arteta.

Rarely flustered, Raya’s control in possession is a key building block to how Arsenal want to play.

He knows when to slow the game down to allow the team to regain shape, but also the point to speed things up to take advantage of a counter attack. 

In the shootout, he looked confident and an imperious presence in his goal.

As Galeno stepped up to take the fourth penalty for Porto, Raya cleverly delayed him and prompted the ball to be re-spotted and ultimately upset the rhythm of the Brazilian. Gamesmanship of the highest order. 

There will always be those who disagree and view Arteta’s management of Ramsdale as unjust.

It is important to take a step back though and view what is best for the team without sentiment.

Ramsdale is a great character and a very good goalkeeper. He is someone that always gives his all for the club, evidenced against Brentford two weekends ago.

Despite his mistake in the first half, he responded with a strong second and made some crucial saves. 

Raya, though, showed last night why he is the number one.

He will have convinced many of this through his role in the shootout alone. Prior to that, there were still murmurings of discontent that Ramsdale wasn’t between the sticks. 

Everyone is of course entitled to their opinion, but the way that Arsenal have been playing since the turn of the year should convince supporters that Arteta knows what he’s doing.

We’re top of the league and into the last eight of the Champions League. 

As the song goes, he knows exactly what we need.