Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech was outstanding between the sticks to play his part in keeping the Londoners in the game when their defence were struggling to keep Liverpool out in the first-half – the game finished 0-0. The former Chelsea shot-stopper has endured a difficult start to his career with the Gunners, but has already made amends with two notable stops most other ‘keepers would have surely let in.
Liverpool striker Christian Benteke will have thought he scored in the first-half after latching onto a low cross inside the area, but inexplicably Cech was down to the ground to stop the former Aston Villa front man from point blank range. He wasn’t done there either, with a fingertip save onto the post from a Philippe Coutinho keeping the score goalless.
Cech will certainly be delighted with his own performance, as the experienced goalkeeper was being heavily criticised for an error-strewn display on his debut against West Ham United. He revealed after the game how happy he was to finally prove his worth to the supporters and critics.
“The first game (West Ham) was obviously the opposite of this one, When you start at a new club and everything goes wrong for you individually, then you need to go back to work and bounce back. So this is what I tried to do after the West Ham game. I went back to work every day and tried to get ready for other games.”
“Obviously today was one of those games where I was in the right place at the right times and I helped the team to overcome a difficult moment in the first half. It is hard to believe that after all the chances that were in the game, the game finished nil-nil.”
Cech looked in fantastic form for Arsenal, and can certainly feel he earned his side a point after they were out of sorts in the first 45 minutes. The Gunners could have been three goals down before the break, with chances coming thick and fast for the visitors. But now he’s looking back to his best, he’ll be an intimidating shot-stopper to come up against.
The 33-year-old had his doubters following his £11M from Chelsea in the summer, and his critics didn’t go away after a poor showing against West Ham, but his incredible display on Monday night has gone some way to proving he can be a key player for Arsene Wenger’s side.
