Arsenal vs Shakhtar LIVE: Champions League result and reaction as Gunners claim tight victory
Arsenal 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk: Dmytro Riznyk’s own goal secured the points for the Gunners
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal earned another three points in the Champions League league phase with a less than comfortable 1-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners needed a win after their defeat to Bournemouth last Saturday and their desire to score was evident throughout a dominant first half. They had 22 attacks and created eight attempts with Declan Rice, Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard all coming close.
It was Gabriel Martinelli who broke the deadlock with what proved to be the decisive strike. The Brazilian cut in from the left and struck a fine effort onto the post. The rebounded and hit Shakhtar goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk on the back before bobbling over the line.
In the second half Arsenal were awarded a penalty for a handball following a VAR check but Leandro Trossard has his effort stopped by Riznyk in some redemption for the keeper. Shakhtar then fought back well and the signs were strong that an equaliser was coming.
It wasn’t to be though with David Raya leaping to the left to make a fine save late in the game to give Arsenal the win.
Relive the action with our live blog below:
‘We want to win in any context'
Mikel Arteta is still hurting due to Arsenal’s defeat at the weekend and hopes his players have to motivation to get back on track tonight.
"You have a defeat, that’s part of the game, it happens in very specific conditions as well," he said, "Let’s move on, take that pain we still have in the tummy and use it.
"It puts a bit of perspective into the situation. Obviously we want to win in any context. The reality is that we have made that context very difficult for ourselves.
"It was very difficult already with the amount of players that we had out and the schedule and the games that we had to play, but that’s the reality.
"For that game we didn’t get away with it. We could have done and it could have been a very different narrative, but the reality is we didn’t. Another context is that we have lost one game in six months. Now we have to win again."
Arsenal versus Ukranian teams
Arsenal last faced Ukrainian opponents in the 2018/19 Europa League group stage, beating Vorskla Poltava 4-2 at home and 3-0 away – the latter game was Bukayo Saka’s first-team debut.
Their loss at Shakhtar in 2010 is Arsenal’s only defeat in their last seven games against teams from Ukraine (W5 D1) and the only one of the last five they have not won.
The Gunners have recorded five successive victories at home to Ukrainian visitors, scoring 14 goals.
Arsenal team changes
Mikel Arteta makes two changes from the team that lost to Bournemouth on Saturday. Raheem Sterling and Mikel Merino drop out with Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus brought in.
Arsenal vs Shakhtar line-ups
Arsenal XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Martinelli, Rice, Partey, Trossard; Havertz, Jesus
Shakhtar XI: Riznyk; Konoplia, Bondar, Matviyenko, Pedro Henrique; Kryskiv; Zubkov, Bondarenko, Sudakov, Eguinaldo; Sikan
Ben White sets record straight over whether he ‘hates’ football
Ben White has cleared up confusion over whether he hates football after previously admitting he does not watch it in his downtime.
Footballers are generally presumed to be obssessed with the sport, with many admitting that they spend a lot of their time off watching wahtever game happens to be on TV.
But Arsenal defender White raised eyebrows when he conceded in past interviews that he doesn’t engage with it once he leaves the training ground. The story that he hates the sport also gained traction after he pulled out of the England squad during the 2022 World Cup for personal reasons and went home – amid rumours of a bust-up with Gareth Southgate’s assistant coach Steve Holland, which Southgate always denied.
Ben White sets record straight over whether he ‘hates’ football
Arsenal star White has previously made headlines for suggesting he never watches football once he leaves the training ground
‘Winning Champions League would be amazing'
Arsenal midfielder, Mikel Merino, says that winning the Champions League would be amazing and believes his teammates have the mentality to get over the line.
He said: “I’ve been lucky enough to win a lot of trophies in my career. I know the feeling. It’s something you can’t compare with anything else.
“Knowing what this club is about, and how big winning trophies is, winning the Champions League would be amazing. There is still a long way to go, but we have the basics and we have the mentality.”
Arteta on Champions League nights
Mikel Arteta says that his players always have the ‘desire’ to perform well when they take part in Champions League fixtures and he hopes they will feed off the atmosphere of playing in front of a home crowd.
The Gunners boss said: “The desire is always there, and we always want to play these kind of matches. We know the atmosphere is going to be really good tomorrow night so we will try to feed off that and try to win the game.”
Visitors practise at the Emirates
Fact of the day
Arsenal lost 2-1 at home to Auxerre on this day in 2002 in the Champions League, although the return of the inspirational Robert Pires as a substitute following a long-term knee injury lifted the Gunners’ spirits despite their defeat.
They went on to win their group before exiting after the second group stage but they lifted silverware that season in the form of the FA Cup.
Arsenal vs Shakhtar previous meetings
The two teams have faced each other four times with the honours being shared equally with two wins for the Gunners and two for Shakhtar.
Arsenal have been more prolific in front of goal, but only just, with nine goals scored compared to Shakhtar’s eight. This looks like it may be a top quality fixture.
Here are the previous meetings stats:
Matches 4 Arsenal wins 2 Shakhtar wins 2 Draws 0 Arsenal goals 9 Shakhtar goals 8
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