Arsenal: Belief in a clean sheet is the same as an actual clean sheet, right?

Arsenal finally sent Bernd Leno out there and it was all going so smoothly before it all just turned horrible unfair. But belief still counts, right?

Arsenal had a 4-0 lead on FC Vorskla and it looked like that would hold. They were in complete control of the game, the defense had looked pretty strong and Bernd Leno had yet to really be bothered.

And there I was, with a draft typed up called “How appropriate that Bernd Leno gets our first clean sheet.”

Only that hasn’t happened. At least not yet. Because out of literally nowhere, FC Vorskla sent two rockets into the back of the net, leaving a baffled Leno without what would have been a massive vote in his favor.

For 75 minutes, it was a sure thing. Leno had played brilliantly in what small capacity he was asked. He looked more confident with the ball at his feet than Per Merteascker in his latter years and he put Cech to shame in the same department.

His passing was actually a weapon. Imagine that, a keeper with the ability to pass dangerously. We have literally never had that.

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The two goals by Vorskla were completely unexpected. It’s not like they stemmed from a particular failure, barring Lichtsteiner’s little flub, that was perhaps a tad bit unlucky. In the end, they were just blazing, well taken shots that Leno had zero chance against. No one would have saved those shots.

When you lead a game 4-0 through sheer domination, you don’t expect two rockets to zip by you before you can even stretch out your arms. But that is exactly what Leno had to faced.

Hopefully, people see what was the most important part of Leno’s performance – his confidence. His ability to not give us all a case of the nervous shakes any time the ball is played back to him. He made me believe that a clean sheet was possible. And, if I’m being honest, Cech hasn’t done that once this year. I always assume that a goal is going past Cech.

For Leno, maybe it was the competition, maybe it was seeing someone else in the goal, but I actually believed that we could keep a clean sheet.

I’m not being (completely) facetious when I say that that has to count for something, doesn’t it? It may not have happened, but we finally believe that it can. That’s something.