David Raya was our hero again this season. We returned from Italy with one point after a 0-0 draw against Atalanta.

It wasn’t exactly the way we wanted to start our Champions League campaign, but we had our goalkeeper to thank for putting us behind. He made a superb save from Mateo Retegui in the 51st minute. He saved the first attempt, but his great reactions saw him once again deny the striker when he looked to score the rebound.

Both teams had plenty of chances throughout the match and although Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli both came close to scoring, no one could break the deadlock.

Sputtering start

The first Champions League match in three years brought the Gewiss Stadium to a full house, but the first half failed to match the spectacle in which the match was played.

We created a number of good chances in the first 20 minutes as we tried to calm the home fans, none better than when we were awarded a free kick 20 yards from goal. Saka fired a low shot into the bottom corner, but Marco Carnesecchi made a good save and prevented Thomas Partey from sneaking in the rebound.

Martinelli fired a half-chance from just outside the penalty area wide in the 17th minute, but from that point on the first half became a riot of errors, with both teams struggling to keep possession, leading to a scarcity of chances.

An effort from Charles de Ketelaere, which flew over the corner of the post and crossbar just before the half-hour mark, was the only other notable incident before Clement Turpin blew his whistle for half-time.

Raya comes to the rescue

The second half took two minutes to get going though, but not in the way we would have liked as Ederson slid past Partey in the box and saw his heel caught by the Ghana captain. Turpin pointed to the spot and after a lengthy VAR check the decision was upheld.

With four goals in his first four Serie A games, Mateo Retegui stepped forward confidently, but as Raya saved his low effort, the ball spun back to the striker. It looked like the net was destined to bulge, but in a similar fashion to his save at Aston Villa last month, our number one leapt to his feet and produced a reflex save to claw the ball off his goal line to keep us level.

Despite escaping that warning, we continued to struggle to impose ourselves and the hosts continued to create chances. Juan Cuadrado’s 25-yard shot failed to trouble Raya as it flew over the bar midway through the second 45, and the Colombian had a second attempt in the 73rd minute but whistled just wide.

But seconds later we finally got another chance to score when a fresh Raheem Sterling passed the ball to Martinelli, who escaped behind the defence, but lost his balance as he tried to round Carmesecchi, sending his shot well over.

That was the maximum for both teams, because the match ended in a fizzle again and both teams started the new competition phase with one point each.

What’s next?

We head to Manchester City on Sunday for the biggest game of the campaign so far, when we take on the reigning champions at the Etihad Stadium. Then it’s Carabao Cup action when Bolton Wanderers visit the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, followed by Leicester City on Saturday 28 September.