Arsenal: There’s shot-stopping, and then there’s Bernd Leno

Arsenal were yet again bailed out by Bernd Leno, and I want it to be known that this is no ordinary shot-stopping. It’s match-saving, and there’s a difference.

After the Southampton match, I was losing my mind over Bernd Leno. Mostly because numerous Arsenal fans had put out the complaint that it had been so long since world-class goal-keeping kept us in a match, which is exactly what it did against Southampton.

The naysayers after the match went on to say that, well, Leno’s issue was never his shot-stopping. That was never his problem. His problem came down to other facets of goal-keeping: decision-making, set-piece control, etc.

Whatever, to each his own. But against Tottenham, we saw more world-class goal-keeping that kept the Gunners ahead (for the time being…), and this, again, was no ordinary shot-stopping that can be brushed off as “well, Leno has always been good at that.”

It happened in the 43rd minute. Eriksen made a perfectly-timed run in behind our defense (literally the only time this happened) and had only Leno to beat from about three yards. The German made a fantastic save, but the rebound when straight to Sissoko.

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It was then, in that split second of the ball ricocheting, that Leno was pure magic, as he got back to his feet, reset himself, got in the perfect position to be in the best position to stop a rebounded effort (mind you, this all happened in about a split second) and when Sissoko let fly on the first-timer, Leno’s left arm was strong enough to see it over the bar for a corner.

Two saves in less than a second, with an unbelievable scramble in between to put himself in the exact right place, with literally no time to put a single toe out of place.

This was world-class keeping of the highest caliber and I challenge you to find an instance of all-around keeping that was better than that. Mostly because I just want everyone to accept that Leno is far better than he has been getting credit for. He’s been behind a crappy defense for the better part of the year, but put him behind a competent back line and he more than does his job beyond just “the same ol’ remarkable shot-stopping.”

This was on a different level, and he deserves tremendous credit for his part in making sure this match went the way that it did.