By Rob Deyzel
Arsenal should have been aware that all the good form in the world would count for nothing when travelling to Eastern Europe. Its a tough part of the world to get a result no matter who you are. Arsenal took an early lead through Theo Walcott (photo) who broke free of the Shakhtar defence to calmly slot the ball into the bottom corner of the net from 15 yards, giving the pacey front man his first Champions League goal of the current campaign. Wenger would have known that the next ten minutes would be vital and would need the gunners to dominate. But the reversed happened.
Shakhtar pressed forward in mass pummelling the Arsenal goal. Jadson went closest firstly have his goal bound shot blocked before following up with a header against the post. Fabianski looked in good form then making a great save against Dimitro Chygrynskiy. But the arsenal wouldn’t stay ahead long with once again Chygrynskiy firing in a header from a free kick which deflected off Eastmonds head to make it 1-1. Then on the stroke of half time the Ukrainian champions took the lead. Clichy was robbed on the right wing leaving Srna to cross the ball for ex gunner Eduardo to slot the ball into the net. 2-1 Shakhtar. The visitors were the better side second half with Wilshere hitting the post and Squillaci missing an open header.
Wenger declared after the game that his players needed to stop being complacent. I think all arsenal fans would agree. Over the years united fans could never accuse their team of being complacent especially when travelling in Europe because they know they would receive the hair dryer treatment from Sir Alex if they did! For me Arsenal are complacent as they don’t have the same fear of Wenger as united players do of Sir Alex. Whether this is a good thing or not is up to you. I firmly believe though that Wenger should be tougher with his players when necessary. Come on Wenger learn to shout and hollow at your players every now and then and maybe, just maybe you would pick up some silverware!
