Arsenal 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk: Lacklustre Arsenal drudge their way to a win

Arsenal fans will have turned up to the Emirates Stadium expecting a drubbing of Shakhtar Donetsk, but just one Dmytro Riznyk own goal separated the two sides.

The Gunners weren’t electric in the first half, but created chances to have a multi-goal lead. But in the second half, they were really sloppy and put pressure on themselves. A missed penalty on top of that didn’t build confidence looking ahead to Liverpool on Sunday.

For Shakhtar, this was always going to be a difficult game. They had periods in the second half with the ball, but not until stoppage time did they create a good chance despite the opportunities Arsenal handed them to do so.

As it happened

Arsenal should have led after five minutes. A corner fell to Riccardo Calafiori, who somehow put the ball over the bar from close range.

Arsenal were in charge as you would expect in the first 25 minutes. However, they failed to create chances. There was only one of any real note, when Gabriel Martinelli got to the byline and cut it to Leandro Trossard, but it was only a half chance at best.

Martinelli would go on to help open the scoring for Arsenal and it went down as a Riznyk own goal. The Brazilian cut inside, Calafiori took a defender away with an overlapping run to create some space for him and he shot low towards the near post. It took a tiny deflection off of a defender before hitting the post. The ball then rebounded off the back of the keeper and into the goal.

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Arsenal were a better final ball away from a 2-0 lead in the minutes after. Martinelli fluffed his pass through to Trossard, who would have been one-on-one with Riznyk. Then mere minutes later, Declan Rice put his low cross too close to the keeper; had he been a little more accurate, Kai Havertz would have tapped it in for 2-0.

On 40 minutes, they’d come close to doubling their lead again. Martinelli, involved once more, spotted Gabriel Jesus at the back post. The Arsenal captain put it back across the six-yard box for Havertz, who had the ball cleared millimetres off his forehead by Mykola Matviyenko. It was brilliant defending from the Shakhtar captain.

Jesus would get yet another opportunity to make it 2-0. Arsenal won the ball back high, Trossard gave it to Havertz, and he laid it off to Jesus, who should have done much better with his shot.

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Arsenal were frustrated at halftime to not be at least 2-0 up. They completely dominated possession but it was just Riznyk’s own goal that separated the sides after what was a relatively dull half of football.

A low cross from Havertz went all the way through to Martinelli, both Trossard and Mikel Merino waiting in the wings. Martinelli was in acres of space and took the shot first time forcing a save from Riznyk.

Arsenal were quite sloppy in the second half, giving Shakhtar their most sustained period of possession in the game. They were able to prevent any chances, but there were several poor giveaways from Arteta’s side, one of which seeing Calafiori get injured as he slipped: the last thing Arsenal needed.

In the 77th minute, Arsenal won themselves a penalty after a VAR check. Handballs are often controversial in UEFA competitions, but this one wasn’t as controversial as most: Valeriy Bondar moved his arm towards the ball. Trossard took the penalty, but it was saved by Riznyk’s legs. Arsenal were unable to put this game to bed.

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Shakhtar’s two best chances came in stoppage time. A long-range effort from Pedrinho caused an awkward save, which for a moment looked like it could go into the goal still. Then a cross that with a header rather than a shot off the shoulder from Marlon Gomes could have equalised. Arsenal fans’ hearts would have been in their mouths.

Arsenal never got going in the second half. They invited pressure on themselves, and if it were a better side they were facing they surely would have been punished. Ultimately, though, they got the three points. But when goal difference could be so important in deciding the top eight, this is the sort of game they surely would have expected to inflate their goal difference in.

Shakhtar will be rueing their late chance from Gomes, but they did better than many would have anticipated. They’re still waiting for their first goal in this season’s Champions League, but they’ll take confidence into their next game, a much more straight forward task in BSC Young Boys.

The lineups

ARS: Raya; Calafiori, Gabriel, Saliba, White; Martinelli, Rice, Partey, Jesus; Trossard, Havertz

SHK: Riznyk; Pedrinho, Matviyenko, Bondar, Konoplia; Kryskiv, Bondarenko; Euginaldo, Sudakov, Zubkov; Sikan