Gunners are given ‘lesson’

‘Lack of focus’ leads to Ukraine defeat

Published: 4th November, 2010
by STEVE BARNETT

Champions League
Shakhtar Donetsk 2, Arsenal 1

ARSENE Wenger admitted his depleted Arsenal side were taught “a good lesson” last night (Wednesday) as they slipped to defeat in Ukraine.    

Theo Walcott gave the Gunners the perfect start with an early goal, but Shakhtar battled back to seal a thrilling victory and deny Arsenal early qualification for the knockout stages.

Clearly frustrated by the result, Wenger said: “We were punished by a good team, it was a good lesson for us. We were 1-0 up and looked comfortable, but we lost our focus and a lack of maturity cost us. It’s a missed opportunity.”    

The Gunners went ahead after only 10 minutes, Walcott latched on to Jack Wilshere’s clever ball over the top and raced almost half the length of the pitch before stroking it past goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov with a finish that Thierry Henry would have been proud of. Talking about the strike after the game, Walcott said: “I felt the goalkeeper wasn’t set right so I took the shot early.”

But that was about as good as it got for Arsenal as Shakhtar hit back to turn the game around. The equaliser came on 28 minutes when Jadson’s free kick found Dmytro Chygrynskiy, whose header flicked off Craig Eastmond and deflected past Lukasz Fabianski for an own-goal. 

What proved to be the winner came on the stroke of half-time, and inevitably it had to come from the left boot of Eduardo. The former Arsenal striker coolly tucked away his chance after Gael Clichy was carelessly robbed of the ball by Darljo Srna. 

Refusing to dwell on the defeat, Walcott added: “The great thing about football is that games come around thick and fast and I’m ready for Newcastle on Sunday.”