Arsenal Vs Shakhtar Donetsk: Cesc Fabregas Returns As Gunners Blow Shakhtar Away

Arsenal welcomed Shakhtar Donetsk to the Emirates in the Champions League on Tuesday night by romping home with a 5-1 win. Arsenal had five different goalscorers in the match against the only other side with any points in Group H.

In what was billed as a tough match for the gunners, Shakhtar failed to pose any serious challenge to the Arsenal back line, apart from a final flourish in which Arsenal old boy Eduardo Da Silva scored a consolation goal for the Ukrainian side.

The match opened at a slow pace, with neither side really coming out and attacking with intent. Both sides had flashing chances, though nothing troubled either keeper until a rather innocuous corner from Nasri was dropped in the box, and Song, despite trying an unwise flick, bundled the ball over the line for the opening goal.

After the goal Arsenal settled into their stride and dominated Shakhtar’s midfield and back line. It wasn’t so much the fact that Arsenal were playing fantastically, it was that Shakhtar were so far off the pace.

The midfield engine room of Fabregas, Wilshere and Song dominated the game so thoroughly that the forwards and backs playing in red and white barely had to break a sweat. The trio played interchangeably within the midfield, two going forward to attack while one stayed back to hold up the play.

As the game continued Arsenal’s dominance was plain for all to see. Defensively the players were under so little pressure that Eboue and Clichy were able to play as attacking wingers rather than wing-backs and play in countless crosses for Chamakh and the advancing midfielders to latch onto.

In the 42^nd minute the crosses paid dividends, as Song chipped the ball over the Shakhtar defence with a beautiful diagonal pass, which Nasri controlled on his chest and then hammered into the top right hand corner three minutes from halftime. Arsenal went into the break up 2-0 without having to shift up from first gear.

After the break Shakhtar came out looking to put the first half behind them and settle into a decent attacking rhythm after the introduction of attacking focal point, Douglas Costa. After only a few minutes, Shakhtar were on the attack and Luiz Adriano nearly pulled one back, only to be denied by the constantly improving Lukasz Fabianski.

The Arsenal goalkeeper pulled out another commendable performance between the sticks, dealing well with the crosses and corners whipped into his penalty area. The young keeper still needs to marshal his defenders better and own his box, however; there were still a few shaky moments for Lukasz—a few scuffed punches here and there.

Shakhtar continued to try and attack, but the Arsenal midfield and forward line had a whole range of gears to click into. The gunners started to push forward with abandon, and 15 minutes after the break Luiz Adriano bundled down Johann Djourou in the box while trying to defend a Cesc Fabregas free kick. Captain Cesc then stepped forward to take the penalty and gave Shakhtar keeper Andriy Pyatov no chance with a bullet into the top right hand corner

Fabregas soon made way for Denilson, but at the same time that the Arsenal skipper left the field, Old Boy Eduardo replaced Luiz Adriano to a standing ovation from the Arsenal faithful, who feel as though the Croatian never reached his full potential with the club.

Shortly after the substitution Arsenal fired two in quick succession. The first was the end result of beautiful lead-up play by Wilshere and Rosicky to go past the would-be defenders with neat, short passing before young Jack scored his first European goal—it also broke Real Madrid’s record of 12 goals scored in the opening three group games.

Between goals Shakhtar had enough time to make their final sub, but they had no time to sort out their defensive issues, as Nasri played a delicate chip pass over the top for Chamakh to latch onto and finish. But the Moroccan international nearly made a mess of it by looking over at the linesman to check whether he was offside or not, giving the goalkeeper time to charge the ball—it was to no avail, though, as Chamakh side-footed past the outstretched Pyatov into the bottom left hand corner to continue the streak of scoring in his last six Champions league matches.

The final goal of the game fell to an Arsenal player, albeit a former one, as Eduardo finished the move he started with a volley into the bottom right hand corner, latching onto Jadson’s cross. The goal was greeted with applause from all corners of the stadium as the Emirates’ faithful acknowledged a former son’s spectacular finish.

In the end the Ukrainian Champions were absolutely no match for the rampaging gunners. Arsenal showed that they have a lot of firepower and can use it, but more importantly, they showed that they can demolish teams without moving out of second gear. It was a welcome return to action for Fabregas and a good preparation for Manchester City who they have this weekend. Hopefully the Gunners can carry their momentum through to Eastlands and score five more.