CL: Arsenal Beat Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0
Arsenal beat Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League thanks to an own goal by goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk as they bounced back from defeat by Bournemouth at the weekend.
Gabriel Martinelli’s effort in the 29th minute bounced off the post and hit the Shakhtar keeper in the back before trickling over the line as the home side’s dominance paid off.
The Gunners started the match brightly and Riccardo Calafiori should have opened the scoring, before Gabriel Jesus had a good chance after the goal but was denied by Riznyk.
Shakhtar were well organised and provided a threat on the counter-attack with winger Eguinaldo keeping the Arsenal backline on their toes.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side are already struggling with injury problems and were without captain Martin Odegaard and key man Bukayo Saka.
The Spanish boss may have more problems to think about as Ben White did not come out for the second half, although he was on a yellow card, and Calafiori was withdrawn after receiving treatment following an awkward slip.
Leandro Trossard had the chance to score a second for Arsenal from the penalty spot late on, after the video assistant referee deemed Valerii Bondar’s arm to be in an unnatural position, but his effort was poor and saved by the impressive Riznyk.
Pedrinho almost snatched a draw for the away side in stoppage time but his effort from the edge of the box was excellently saved by David Raya.
Arsenal will be delighted to be back to winning ways after what they hope was a blip against Bournemouth and now can focus on a crucial game against top-of-the-table Liverpool on Sunday.
