Mat Ryan was one of the rare positives as Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa this afternoon.
The Australian joined the Gunners on loan for the rest of this campaign last month and got his chance to impress early following the suspension of Bernd Leno for this game.
He didn’t have the best of starts as the Villans scored their goal within two minutes of the game kicking off.
He, however, stood up to the occasion and made at least two brilliant saves in both halves to deny the host more goals.
After the game, Standard Sport’s Simon Collings highlighted his impact in the encounter as one rare positive from a poor Arsenal performance.
Despite only returning to training two days ago, he justified why he is the second-best goalie at Arsenal, ahead of Alex Runarsson.
Collings writes: “There were few positives to take, but as the dust settles, Ryan’s performance on debut is something for Arteta to cling on to.
“The Australian, who signed on loan from Brighton last month, only returned to training on Thursday but he got himself fit in time to start.
“When he conceded inside just 90 seconds – without even touching the ball – you wondered how the Australian would react and you feared for the worst.
“Ryan, however, bounced back and pulled off a number of good saves to keep the score at 1-0.
“As a boyhood Arsenal fan, who used to get up in the dead of night back in Australia as a child to watch the Gunners, Ryan will have been pleased with his display.”
The last time Leno was out, he almost lost his place in the team to Emi Martinez. After watching Ryan’s display, Leno will know he needs to stay in top form and avoid that kind of sending off again.