John Terry was right! Cech heroics doing as much as Ozil to keep Arsenal in title picture

Before Petr Cech had even signed for Arsenal last summer, his former captain John Terry claimed the goalkeeper would be worth up to 15 points a season in north London.

While most of the headlines have belonged to Mesut Ozil so far this season, Arsenal owe their title challenge just as much to their world class goalkeeper.

“We are top of the league,” sang the joyous Gunners supporters after Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Newcastle that moved them two points clear of Leicester - but that would not be the case if it wasn’t for Cech.

Newcastle could have been out of sight had they not found themselves up against Cech in inspired form as he made several top quality saves.

The 33-year-old kept Arsenal in the game, particularly with his brilliant second-half stop to deny Georginio Wijaldum when the Newcastle midfielder raced through on goal.

On the back of setting the Premier League clean sheet record against Bournemouth, Cech kept his 171st shutout in the league to provide the platform for this victory.

On a day when the Gunners were largely off colour, Cech set a platform that meant Arsenal only needed to score once to win, with Laurent Koscielny stabbing in the winner from close range in the 72nd minute.

It was the kind of match that champions win when not at their best and Arsenal have certainly benefitted from Cech’s presence this season.

The Czech is a serial winner after 11 trophy-laden years at Chelsea and, in a position where you cannot afford to make mistakes, is astonishingly consistent. It looks like that has rubbed off on a squad that seems mentally tougher than in recent campaigns.

Cech's mere presence provides assurance to the back four and so often this season he has made vital saves when Arsenal have needed him.

On Saturday, he came out on top in a personal battle with Wijnaldum, three times keeping out efforts from the Dutchman.

Each save was better than the last. In the first-half, Cech scrambled across his goal to claw away Wijnaldum’s header from 12 yards before superbly smothering at the Newcastle man’s feet just before the break.

The best of the lot came early in the second-half, with Cech saving with his legs when Wijnaldum looked almost certain to score.

A lesser goalkeeper like David Ospina or Wojciech Szczesny would surely have conceded one of those chances, but Cech is remarkable for his consistency as much as anything else.

"There is obviously talk of Arsenal signing Petr and if they do get Pete, that will strengthen them for sure. He will save them 12 to 15 points a season," said Terry last summer.

He has been proved entirely right and those points could be just as important to Arsenal’s title hopes as Ozil’s sublime skill.