“My Heart almost stopped” -Raya

Mikel Arteta said his “heart stopped” when Chelsea nearly scored a 92nd-minute equaliser against his Arsenal team – but praised goalkeeper David Raya for bringing him back to life.

Raya pulled off a stunning late stop to deny Alejandro Garnacho’s goal-bound effort – which won the game for Arsenal and maintained their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

“It’s a cross, it’s not a shot, but it ended up being an unbelievable shot, and I got the right angle,” said Arteta after the game.

“My heart almost stopped, but David’s hand was there to get it back to life.

“David is one of our leaders without a doubt, and he’s a keeper that knows how to maintain his focus and decide a football match when you need him.

“Because sometimes he doesn’t participate at all, and then in one action, you have to be there, and that’s very, very difficult to do.”

Arteta admitted that Raya has had a few issues fitness-wise this week – and the Arsenal goalkeeper went down injured at one point in the first half after a top save.

“I don’t know what happened in that action,” said Arteta. “He had some niggles this week, so I don’t know if it’s related to that. Overall, very happy.”

Arteta also revealed Declan Rice will need to undergo fitness check ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Brighton after the midfielder had to come off in the second half against Chelsea.