Match Review: Arsenal 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Written by Theo Tarling
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - TUESDAY OCTOBER 22, 2024
VENUE : ARSENAL STADIUM
ATTENDANCE: 59,594
REFEREE: BENOIT BASTIEN (FRANCE)
Match stats
Possession:
Arsenal - 55.9%
Shakhtar - 44.1%
Passes
Arsenal - 603
Shakhtar - 475
Yellow Cards
Arsenal - 2
Shakhtar - 1
xG (Expected goals)
Arsenal - 2.13
Shakhtar - 0.8
Arsenal returned to winning ways and continued their unbeaten start to the new UEFA Champions League format with a 1-0 win over Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk thanks to an own goal from the opponent's keeper Dmytro Riznyk, aided by a strike from Gabriel Martinelli.
The win sees Arsenal move up to 4th in the league table with 7 points. Last night's victory means Arsenal are closing in on the chance to be playing Champions League football in February, however the Gunners would much rather avoid finishing inside the top 8 due to the extra build up of fixtures that would come by having to play in the two legged play off round for those placed 9th to 24th,
Making a quick start
After the setback against Bournemouth on Saturday, Arsenal had to get back that winning feeling rather quickly.
The Gunners made an electric start, forcing a flurry of corners early on.
The closest they came from them was when a ball landed off the head of one of the Shakhtar defenders and landed at the feet of defender Ricciardo Calafiori, who blazed it over the bar.
Leandro Trossard also had a couple of chances in the first half, first a wayward effort off target before narrowly placing a first time shot past the near post.
GABI'S FORTUNATE BUT DESERVED OPENER
As the game approached the half hour mark, Gabriel Martinelli picked the ball up from off the left and side, cut in and fired a shot towards the near post which unluckily for Shakhtar, but very fortunately for Arsenal, came off the back of keeper, Dmytro Riznyk. It was a deserved lead for Arsenal and Martinelli has been Arsenal's brightest spark up to that point so it was also a deserving moment for him personally.
COMING CLOSE TO FINDING THE SECOND GOAL
Arsenal continued to probe in the first half to find that second goal and they would've had it in the 40th minute if not for a superb piece of defending from defender Mykola Matviyenko. Gabi Martinelli floated a ball to the back post to Gabriel Jesus who brilliantly cut the ball back to the penalty spot where Kai Havertz was ready to tap it into an empty net if not for Matviyenko getting his head onto it.
Jesus then had a brilliant chance himself just a few minutes later as Havertz held the ball up brilliantly before the Brazilian fired straight at the keeper.
Arsenal, for all their chances and dominance, went in at half time at 1-0 up.
INJURY BLOW?
The second half was relatively quiet for Arsenal and the game seemed to be where they wanted it to be. However, what they did not want was another injury/suspension and unfortunately Riccardo Calafiori's slip was an extremely costly one for the Gunners with the said slip seemingly causing some sort of pain towards his knee.
The club will be hoping that the news is positive ahead of the league clash against Liverpool on Sunday in which William Saliba will be suspended and Jurrien Timber faces a race against time to be fit.
Calafiori was replaced by 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly who was making his second successive Champions League appearance, both of which came at the Emirates, after also coming on against PSG.
A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FROM THE SPOT
Arsenal were handed a golden opportunity from the spot with less than 20 minutes to go after VAR spotted a handball on a Shakhtar defender from a Merino cross. Now the logical idea would've been that Kai Havertz took the penalty considering how close he was to the record of the most consecutive matches with a goal at the Emirates (he was tied with Robin Van Persie on 8). However it was Leandro Trossard that took it. The penalty was put straight down the middle and saved by the feet of Riznyk, a good moment for him personally after the own goal which had given Arsenal the lead in the first half.
It was the first penalty they'd missed at home since December 2021, when Alexandre Lacazette missed in a 2-0 win against West Ham, and the first that hadn't been converted anywhere after scoring our last 11.
STATS
This was Arsenal's first 1-0 victory in a Champions League group stage match in 29 such matches since a win against Borussia Dortmund in November 2013, while they last won 1-0 thanks to an own goal in a European match against PSV in September 2004.
Three consecutive clean sheets in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since a run of four under Arsene Wenger in November 2007.
Arsenal have missed four of our last eight penalties in the UEFA Champions League, having scored 11 of our previous 12 from the spot beforehand.
Shakhtar Donetsk's Dmytro Riznyk became the third player to both score an own goal and save a penalty in a UEFA Champions League match, the first since Benfica's Mile Svilar in October 2017 against Manchester United.
Arsenal moved up to 11th in the all time UEFA Champions League wins list with 108, ahead of Dynamo Kyiv and four behind Ajax with 112, in 10th.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CHALLENGE TO CRUCIAL SHOWDOWN
Attention for the Gunners now turns to Sunday against Liverpool in the Premier League, a game in which Mikel Arteta claimed that his side "would be flying for".
Next up in terms of the UEFA Champions League was a visit to the San Siro to face Serie A holders, Inter Milan. Arsenal famously beat Inter 5-1 back in 2003/04, which was the last time the sides met.