Nervy win for Gunners soured by more injuries

If there is a sense of apprehension around Arsenal at the moment, it went up a level late in the second half of this nervy 10 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.

- JAMIE BRAIDWOOD

The sight of Riccardo Calafiori hobbling off after an awkward slip and becoming the latest addition to their lengthy injury list gives Mikel Arteta another headache ahead of facing Liverpool on Sunday. “He felt something,” Arteta said afterwards. “I don’t know the extent of it so in that sense that’s not great news.”

His side had to dig in here to claim another three points in the Champions League against a resolute Shakhtar team. There was a dip in energy after Calafiori’s injury, another after Leandro Trossard’s penalty was saved in the 75th minute. Not for the first time in this Champions League, Arsenal were indebted to David Raya, whose strong arm kept out a dipping shot from Pedrinho in the 92nd minute. It denied what would have been a famous point for the Ukrainian side.

Calafiori’s injury, though, had already added to Arsenal’s concerns. In defence alone, Arteta will also be without the suspended William Saliba against Liverpool while Jurrien Timber was again sidelined, along with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Arsenal finished the game here with Thomas Partey and Miles Lewis-Skelly as their full-backs, after Ben White was replaced on a booking at half time. White, at least, was not injured. Arteta did not want to risk a fourth red card of the season.

There was another positive. Gabriel Martinelli seized control of Arsenal’s attack and directed its flow through him, almost as if he was determined to prove a point after his costly miss at 0-0 in the defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday. The Brazilian was back close to his irrepressible best here and forced Arsenal’s only goal of the night, itself an unfortunate deflection off Shakhtar goalkeeper Dymtro Riznyk, but provided much more of his devastating speed and dribbling besides. “He looked really sharp, really fresh,” Arteta said. “He offered another level of threat.”