Arsenal earned their second consecutive win in the Champions League with victory over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Mikel Arteta was desperate to see his side bounce back after the disappointment that unfolded at the Vitality against Bournemouth.
Result wise, Arsenal did redeem themselves however, it was another lacklustre display from the Gunners, with Shakhtar goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk responsible for the only goal.
The shot-stopper scored an own goal in the first half to hand Arsenal the win and later saved a Leandro Trossard penalty to round off an eventful evening for the Ukrainian.
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Shakhtar Donetsk manager Marino Pusic praises Arsenal star
Gabriel Martinelli was crowned man of the match for his performance on a night where very few players in red and white caught the eye.
While Arteta would have wanted to see more excitement on the pitch, one member of his squad was praised away from the action by Shakhtar manager Marino Pusic.
The Bosnian coach dubbed Oleksandr Zinchenko ‘amazing’, as the Arsenal defender was heavily involved in things off field as his former club met his current side.
After the game, Zinchenko, who was an unused substitute, spent some time in the Ukrainian outfit’s dressing room, as Pusic revealed when speaking to Amazon Prime Video at full time.
“Oleksandr, yeah, fantastic. He was now in our dressing room,” Pusic said.
“He was listening to my speech to the players. He was our guest. Great guy. Amazing player, of course.”
It was a special night for the left-back who embraced the Shakhtar supporters in the away end after Arsenal’s win, showing love to the people of his homeland.
While Zinchenko did not play a part in the fixture, the defender was unable to escape the spotlight, being applauded by Pusic for his post-match actions.
Oleksandr Zinchenko could feature against Liverpool
In what was a pretty lifeless display by Arsenal’s standards, one of the main talking points came from Riccardo Calafiori’s injury.
The Italian left the pitch after being unable to play on, increasing the pressure on the club’s injury list ahead of the clash with Liverpool.
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Arteta admitted his worry over Calafiori’s injury, which could spell bad news for his chances against the Reds, meaning Zinchenko could be called into action.
The Ukrainian hasn’t started in the Premier League since the opening day of the season but could be in line to get his chance to impress on Sunday afternoon.
It will be interesting to see what Arteta opts to do, with teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly preferred off the bench to Zinchenko against Shakhtar, leaving the manager with a decision to make.
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