Shakhtar 2 – 1 Arsenal: As it happened…
8 comments November 4th, 2010
Of late, I’ve spent most evenings working until 10pm, which means any Arsenal evening game is invariably watched on delay. It’s 22.48 here now, and I’m just sitting down to watch the match. Hold on to your hats: this narrative is about to get linnear.
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Line-ups: On paper we look weak. I’m surprised we’ve got Eboue and Djourou ahead of Koscielny and Sagna, and Craig Eastmond has never struck me as a player who looked ready for the Champions League. For Shakhtar, Eduardo starts ahead of his inevitable goal.
7 mins: Samir Nasri just danced past a few players and hammered a thirty-yard effort against the post. Not quite as good as his free-kick that hit the bar at the weekend, but a decent effort nonetheless.
9 mins: I accidentally pressed Fast Forward on my Sky Plus control just as Theo Walcott broke to score. Imagine watching that break in Fast Forward – it was quick enough in real time. WHAT a goal. A Shakhtar corner is headed out by Rosicky towards Walcott on the edge of his area. Theo stabs the ball to Jack Wilshere, who pokes a lobbed through-ball deep in to Shakhtar territory. The rest is just an astonishing display of athleticism, as Theo bursts away from two men, accelerates towards the goalkeeper, and slots calmly beneath him. Absolutely breathtaking. He even had time for his Usain Bolt-style glance at the linesman before a powerful sidefooted finish. Thierry would be proud.
14 mins: Jack Wilshere just played a beautiful clipped pass out wide to Tomas Rosicky. His ball for Walcott’s goal was so instinctive, and yet so precise.
16 mins: Shakhtar get in behind Eboue too easily, but Jadson’s sidefooted effort is blocked by the head of Johan Djourou. Great block to prevent a certain goal, but then as the ball comes back in Jadson’s header strikes a post. Fabianski then makes a decent stop. From nowhere, Shakhtar look a threat.
24 mins: An outstretched Djourou leg prevents Adriano reaching Gai’s cross. Djourou has made some important interventions already. Eastmond then tries to release Walcott on the break, but his touch is a bit heavy.
26 mins: Eboue booked for a tackle from behind. In Europe that’s always a yellow. Hubschman also booked for taking out Jack Wilshere higher up the pitch. Shakhtar felt Wilshere should have been sent off in the Emirates game, and they may look to make him pay tonight.
27 mins: And now Shakhtar have equalised. Free-kick from the left gets a flick from that centre-back whose name reads like a monkey has stamped on the keyboard, Chgrygygngggskxi, and Craig Eastmond deflects it past Fabianski for an own goal.
35 mins: Nicklas Bendtner has pulled up with what looks like it might be an achilles problem. Could be his ankle. That is bad news. The boot is off and the stretcher is on, but he’s able to walk off.
37 mins: Bendtner is back on. I imagine they’ll give it to half-time and see how he’s doing.
39 mins: Bendtner is in space on the right and plays an instantaneous pass in to Walcott, but Srna just nicks the ball away. Crucial tackle, brilliantly timed.
45 mins: And Shakhtar will go in at half-time 2-1 infront. They can thank Gael Clichy for that. The left-back has several chances to clear but dithers, and Srna nicks the ball as neatly as he did in his own penalty area. He then has the awareness to find and unmarked Eduardo, whose finish is clinical. Told you he’d score. No celebration mind.
45 mins: And that’s half-time.
Well it’s been interesting. Jens Lehmann is in the Sky studio and says we slipped in to a comfort zone. Leonardo disagrees, saying Shakhtar have bossed it. I’m inclined to agree. It’s good to see Jens: can you imagine what he would have done to Clichy if that mistake had been made on his watch?
Second half about to get underway. Nicklas Bendtner is alive and well.
48 mins: Lovely feet from Eduardo to turn in to the penalty area, but he’s halted by Djourou, who has looked better tonight than in previous weeks.
54 mins: Fantastic chance for Wilshere. He makes it himself by closing down the Shakhtar defenders, and when the ball breaks he ought to punish them but his curled effort is just wide.
55 mins: Carlos Vela is being readied for action. Am I supposed to feel something other than indifference?
55 mins: What a goal that would have been. Emmanuel Eboue plays a preposterous pass across his own penalty area, but the quick feet and quick thinking of Gael Clichy means it starts a move which ends with a left-footed Walcott volley being saved by the Shakthar keeper. The commentator says the move was ‘lucky’ – in fact it involved some risky but thrilling pass-and-move play.
58 mins: On comes Vela, at the expense of Eastmond. I have to say I rarely think Eastmond looks like a Champions League footballer in the making, let alone someone ready for it now. Nasri has dropped deep, and Vela is out on the left flank.
60 mins: Bringing on Vela to turn the game around seems a bit fanciful. He specialises in late goals when we’re already well in front.
62 mins: Jadson wants a penalty, and at first glance you can see why. Oh, on the replay, it looks more like a dive. Silly, because Squillaci was committed and could easily have made the foul anyway.
64 mins: Lovely turn and pass from captain Rosicky but Srna gets there before Vela.
65 mins: A forty-yard pass from Gael Clichy finds Squillaci at the back post but his header is to close to the goalie. Great chance.
68 mins: Great muscular turn from the industrious Rosicky, who picks out Theo Walcott, but the Englishman’s left-footed shot is tame. If we are to create another goal tonight, I’d put money on Rosicky being at the heart of it.
70 mins: Walcott bends a twenty-five yard effort, but it’s an easy catch for the keeper. You can’t knock the young man’s confidence. Good to see. Chamakh is preparing to come on.
71 mins: Walcott is playing from the left-flank at the moment, and cuts in to fire a low shot in to the goalie’s chest. Seven goals already this season, and there could be plenty more if this sort of direct running and shooting continues.
72 mins: Bendtner off, Chamakh on. Alan Smith accuses the Dane of a ‘lack of form’. He had two goals in two games, prior to tonight. Chamakh, meanwhile, has scored in his last six Champions League appearances. It’d be useful if he could keep that run going tonight…
81 mins: Jay Emmanuel-Thomas is on for Theo Walcott. Good game for Theo: 5 shots, 5 on target, 1 goal.
84 mins: JET nods down, Vela spins and volleys, but it’s straight down the middle. Time is running out.
90 mins: Shakhtar break but Fabianski gets down to block Moreno’s chance to end the contest.
Full-time: Disappointing result, but of all the games we face in the next month or so, this is one in which a defeat is just about palatable. Still, it means we may have to win our two remaining group games in order to secure top spot.
