A selection of Arsenal fans have praised the showing of goalkeeper Bernd Leno during the club’s slender 1-0 win over Watford in the Premier League on Monday night.
The Germany international has been putting in a string of impressive displays in the backend of the season, and he produced another solid performance to keep the Hornets at bay.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring for the Gunners in the 10th minute in a bizarre fashion after intercepting Ben Foster’s clearance into the net, and the club thereafter were handed a man advantage with Troy Deeney sent off.
However, this did not discourage the Hornets from lodging attacks during the course of the game and Leno, in particular, impressed in the first period where he made two important saves including one from an Etienne Capoue free-kick.
The game was eventually won after a heroic challenge from Ainsley Maitland-Niles towards the end of the game, but a few supporters reserved praise for Leno, who has improved on his performances as the season has progressed.
Another cracking save from Leno. If that was De Gea it would be world class. pic.twitter.com/3ZGn1KsJm9
— ARSENAL (@tomgunner14) April 15, 2019
https://twitter.com/AFCAlii/status/1117875083396038657
Top save that from, Bernd Leno. #WATARS pic.twitter.com/4rqUGFRQzX
— Stump.Microphone (@MicrophoneStump) April 15, 2019
Unpopular Opinion : Without @Bernd_Leno we probably won’t even be in Top 6 right now
Signing of the season for me pic.twitter.com/U1suE9bIVX
— 🔴 𝕂𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕠𝕆 ⚪️ (@IamKitto0) April 15, 2019
Credit to Leno today. He quietly did his job. He wasn’t worked tirelessly, but he kept his concentration when needed. How often have we seen our keepers switch off when we’re controlling a game. With a better defense in front of him, he’ll be top class. Absolute bargain for £22m.
— Patrick Timmons (@PatrickTimmons1) April 15, 2019
Some good performances today. Iwobi was a constant threat. Mustafi and Koscielny were immense too, but my player of the match is Bernd Leno. We did not deserve to go ahead at half time, but he kept us in the game. A keeper winning us points than costing us. How refreshing!
— Sash ~ (@ltarsenal) April 15, 2019
Leno’s goalkeeping came into question following a 3-2 defeat at Southampton earlier in the campaign, where he made a poor judgement with the cross from the opposition in the dying stages of the game.
Since then, the German has been far more resolute between the sticks and has become one of the club’s favourites with his stunning double save in the north London derby this year being one of the highlights.
Meanwhile, the victory against Watford ensured that the Gunners kept their maiden league clean sheet on the road, and this should provide a confidence boost for Leno, who has been guarded with a backline which has remained vulnerable to the goalscoring threat for most of the season.
