Arsenal took an early lead away to Shakhtar Donetsk through Theo Walcott’s tenth-minute strike, but the hosts have hit back have scored twice in the last twenty minutes of the opening half to take the lead into halftime. The early exchanges had been fairly mixed, with Arsenal’s defence looking shaky at times, though neither side imposed itself on the match. Jack Wilshere set up the opener with an excellent long pass that Walcott finished superbly, but Shakhtar have dominated since the first goal. They hit the post and forced an excellent save from Lukas Fabianski within just a few minutes of going behind, and were level shortly afterwards as Dmytro Chigrynskiy headed in Jadson’s free-kick.
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 Arsenal: Gunners Throw Away Early Lead
The home side continued to keep Arsenal under pressure for much of the balance of the half, and only towards the end of the first period did the Gunners start to get back into the game. However, sloppy play by Gael Clichy near the corner flag allowed Darijo Srna to slip the ball across the penalty area to Eduardo, who clipped in a second for Shakhtar to give them a one-goal lead at the interval. In the other match in Group H, Moíses has given Sporting Braga a one-nil lead away to Partizan Belgrade.
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