David Raya’s Stunning Save Against Brighton Nominated for Save of the Season

David Raya’s flying fingertip stop against Brighton & Hove Albion has been shortlisted for the Premier League’s Save of the Season, a fitting nod to a campaign in which he already claimed the Golden Glove.

The moment came in December, in a tight 2-1 win at home to the Seagulls. Brighton were pushing, the game on edge, when Yankubah Minteh cut inside and shaped a curling effort towards the top left corner. It looked perfect. The trajectory, the dip, the angle. Goalkeepers are usually beaten by that kind of strike.

Raya refused to play along.

He exploded to his right, springing across the goalmouth and stretching out his right hand. For a split second, the stadium seemed to hold its breath. Then the slightest touch – fingertips only – diverted the ball away from the angle and out of danger. A spectacular save, but also a vital one in a narrow Premier League win.

That intervention earned him December’s Save of the Month award and pushed him joint top of the all-time leaderboard for that accolade. Raya now sits alongside Andre Onana and Jordan Pickford with three monthly wins apiece, a trio that underlines the elite company he keeps in the division’s goalkeeping hierarchy.

Save of the Season Contenders

The stakes rise again with the season-long honour. For the Premier League’s Save of the Season, Raya’s stop will be judged against efforts from James Trafford, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Martin Dubravka, Jordan Pickford, Alphonse Areola, Aaron Ramsdale, Karl Darlow and Antonin Kinsky.

It is a heavyweight list, packed with reflexes, reach and raw instinct. Raya’s case rests on that one instant against Brighton, when a match, a result and a growing reputation all hung in the air with the ball – until his fingertips took charge.