Arsenal bounced back from shock defeat with a hard-fought Champions League win against Shakhtar Donetsk

Emirates Stadium
CNN
—

It wasn't pretty and at times it wasn't pleasant, but Arsenal got the job done in the Champions League with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.

Shakhtar goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk suffered the most unfortunate own goal when Gabriel Martinelli's shot bounced off the post and hit his back before the ball trickled over the line for the winner after half an hour.

The goal summed up what was largely a delicate and tense affair, with Arsenal unable to create much and extend their lead during long periods of possession.

After Riznyk saved Leandro Trossard's second-half penalty, Shakhtar went in search of a late equaliser, but a combination of poor finishing passes and determined Arsenal defense left north London empty-handed.

Fans at the Emirates witnessed one of Arsenal's most complete performances under Mikel Arteta as the Gunners secured a 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month, but they will also be pleased to see this team can score Victory if he is well below his best.

Although Shakhtar at home is, on paper, one of Arsenal's friendlier games in the group stage of the new-look Champions League, Saturday's shock 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth underlined the importance of a win even more as the Gunners looked to return to winning ways to return.

“We were dominant in the first half,” Arteta said after the game. “We created four great chances. We should have converted them and ended the game.

“The second half was completely different. We looked tired. We lacked sharpness with and without the ball. We had two great chances, missed a penalty and then the emotion is difficult to overcome, but we had to prevail.

“They are a good team. It’s the Champions League – just get the win and the clean slate.”

Arsenal burst out of the blocks at breakneck speed and immediately put Shakhtar on the defensive. The two Gabriels Martinelli and Jesus in particular caused problems on the flanks.

The home fans reacted to Arsenal's positive start as the first chants of “Arsenal, Arsenal” echoed around the Emirates.

Arsenal's early dominance should have been crowned with a goal, but Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori side-footed his shot over the bar after the ball fell nicely in his favor in the penalty area.

Eager to get the team going again after a difficult first five minutes, the Shakhtar fans began jumping up and down in their corner of the stadium and twirling their orange scarves above their heads. The players reacted.

After successfully dealing with Arsenal's initial waves of attacks, Shakhtar grew into the game and looked like a threat on the counterattack.

But a missed interception from Dmytro Kryskiv as Calafiori played the ball out from the back allowed Arsenal to quickly bypass Shakhtar's midfield and break through the defence.

Martinelli got back on his right foot and fired his shot against the post, but a chance rebound hit Riznyk in the back and the helpless Shakhtar goalkeeper turned to see the ball crawl over the line.

Although it will count as Riznyk's own goal, Martinelli deservedly received recognition from his teammates and fans.

The Brazilian was instrumental in Arsenal's good work in the first half. His dribbling in particular – carried out at a feverish pace, as if the ball were attached to his foot with a short piece of string – had been a joy to watch.

Arteta said Martinelli had found “another gear, another level” in a “great performance”.

Arsenal, now seemingly in the right gear, were dominant for the rest of the half, with only a couple of clever saves from Riznyk and a final block from the Shakhtar defense keeping the deficit to a minimum.

The second half started similarly to how the first ended. Martinelli quickly parried Riznyk again before moving his arms toward the crowd, staging a rise in decibels.

However, similar to the first half, Shakhtar once again grew into the game and perhaps could have made better use of the opportunities that arose. So far, the lack of quality in the final third has been the downfall of the guests' evening.

But Arsenal finally had a chance to put the game away when a VAR review revealed that defender Valeriy Bondar had turned Mikel Merino's cross backwards with his hand, prompting referee Benoît Bastien to point to the penalty spot.

However, Riznyk continued his impressive form on the night and guessed the right way to parry Trossard's effort when there was a breakout in the Shakhtar corner of the stadium.

This save gave the Ukrainians some momentum in the final 15 minutes, but they were unable to use the period of sustained pressure to create clear-cut chances.

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya had to cleverly go down to parry Pedrinho's long-range effort, but it was the closest Shakhtar came to a point.

Shakhtar coach Marino Pusic said afterwards that he was “very proud” of his players, especially the way they defended, as the team is not “pushed to defend” in their domestic league.

“It's not easy to play against such a great team, for me one of the best in Europe,” he said.