It wasn’t hugely impressive, but Mikel Arteta’s men got the job done in the Champions League on Tuesday. Re-live the action with the best facts and Opta data in our Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk stats page.
Arsenal’s curious form from the spot in the Champions League continued but they nonetheless did just about enough to beat Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
Mikel Arteta’s side were by no means at their fluent best against their Ukrainian visitors and were lucky to take the lead just before the half-hour mark with a goal that proved decisive.
Gabriel Martinelli saw a deflected effort hit the post and then rebound back into the net off Shakhtar goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk – that was the third own goal by a goalkeeper in the competition this season, already the joint most in a single campaign.
Riznyk was at the centre of things again in the second half when Valerii Bondar was penalised for handling in the box; Shakhtar’s stopper saved the resulting spot kick from Leandro Trossard.
That was Arsenal’s fourth penalty failure from their last eight taken in the Champions League, a concerning record considering they’d netted 11 of the previous 12.
Arsenal then had to rely on David Raya to make a couple of necessary saves in the latter stages as the Gunners held on to a slender and largely unimpressive victory.
It was their first 1-0 win in a Champions League group/league phase game since November 2013 (vs Borussia Dortmund), while it also saw them record three successive clean sheets in the competition for the first time since November 2007.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk stats from their UEFA Champions League meeting at Emirates Stadium.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own post-match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk: Key Post-Match Facts
- Shakhtar Donetsk’s Dmytro Riznyk scored the third own goal by a goalkeeper in the UEFA Champions League this season, already the joint-most in a single campaign (after 2002-03 and 2015-16) and as many as in the previous four seasons combined.
- Arsenal have missed four of their last eight penalties in the UEFA Champions League, having scored 11 of their previous 12 from the spot beforehand.
- Shakhtar Donetsk have failed to score in three consecutive UEFA Champions League games for the first time since October 2021 (a run of four).
- 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.
- This was Arsenal’s first 1-0 victory in a UEFA 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.
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