Premier League

Player ratings as wasteful Gunners secure nervy win

Player ratings as wasteful Gunners secure nervy win

Arsenal beat Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 on Tuesday evening at the Emirates Stadium to maintain their unbeaten record in the Champions League this season.

The Gunners found themselves ahead at half-time thanks to a slice of luck following Shakhtar goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk’s own goal and they could have extended their lead before the break had it not been for some wasteful finishing.

Leandro Trossard missed a penalty after the restart as Shakhtar threatened to stun the hosts with a late leveller, but the Gunners held on to secure an important win before Sunday’s Premier League battle with Liverpool.

How the game unfolded

Arsenal‘s superiority was established from the first minute as they made a fast-paced start on home soil and Riccardo Calafiori should have handed the home side the lead after just six minutes. One of the Gunners’ flurry of early corners fell kindly to the Italian but he blazed his effort over from eight yards out.

The occasional foray forward from Shakhtar gave Arsenal some food for thought but the Gunners made their dominance count just before the half-hour mark. It was Gabriel Martinelli who forced the hosts in front, darting inside and unleashing a shot that slammed the post before striking goalkeeper Riznyk’s backside and trundling over the line.

Arsenal would have doubled their advantage in the 39th minute if it wasn’t for an excellent piece of last-ditch defending from Shakhtar captain Mykola Matviyenko. Gabriel Jesus redirected his header across the six-yard box for Kai Havertz to tap in from close range but a lunging challenge from the Ukrainian denied the German forward.

Havertz then turned provider for Jesus as the home side nearly found a second before the half-time whistle. The Brazilian was teed up the former Chelsea forward inside the penalty area but was unable to end his nine-month goal drought as he fired at the outstretched leg of Riznyk.

Havertz continued to pull the strings for Arsenal in the final third and found Martinelli inside the box within eight minutes of the restart. The latter had caused Shakhtar all manner of problems out on the left flank but side-footed his effort too close to Riznyk’s gloves.

Arsenal were gifted the perfect opportunity to put the game to bed just as the nerves were creeping in around the Emirates. Valeriy Bondar’s handball presented the Gunners with a penalty following a VAR review, but Trossard’s tame spot kick was rebuffed by Riznyk to keep Shakhtar’s hopes alive.

A comfortable evening…

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