Nick Ames was at the Emirates. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night. Mikel Arteta speaks to Amazon Prime. “I’m very pleased with the result … a win in the Champions League is always difficult and important … there were two different halves … the second half a bit of fatigue crept in … we played 65 minutes with ten men three days ago … it was a big task … we dug in and got the result … happy days … credit to Shakhtar, they’re a good team … brave … when you lose the ball in the wrong areas you are going to suffer … Martinelli has been really good … he had a niggle with the national team … you could see he was fresh today … we haven’t conceded much, but in those moments we needed David Raya … he is really connected with the team … Saka is unlikely [to play against Liverpool on Sunday] … Riccardo [Calafiori] felt something and had to come off … it is a bit of a worry.” Player of the match Gabriel Martinelli speaks to Amazon Prime. “We wanted to score more … but we wanted to win the game and that is the most important thing … it was my goal! [smiles cheekily] … it doesn’t matter if it was an own goal … the win is what is important and we are really happy …. we have lost some players … it is tricky … but we know our qualities … we came here to win the game and we did it … we are lucky to have David Raya here and thank you for that save!” … and so here’s how the Champions League megasuperdupertable looks after tonight’s round of fixtures. Niall McVeigh has all the details of the other matches in Clockwatch. (Please ignore the technical glitch at the bottom, which keeps drawing in Celtic’s group-stage humiliation from last season, as though getting thumped 7-1 by Borussia Dortmund the other month wasn’t bad enough. Rumours that our development team refer to themselves as The People are well wide of the mark.) Arsenal had the lion’s share of possession, and created most of the chances. But in the end they needed an own goal – Dmytro Riznyk the unfortunate fall guy – to make the difference. The hosts missed several good opportunities to double their lead, plus a penalty, then toiled for the remainder of the second period. Any hopes of replacing a few big names and easing to the finishing line ahead of the Premier League clash with Liverpool were set aside; indeed David Raya was forced into action just before the end to deny Pedrinho. Shakhtar Donetsk, forever away from home, did themselves and Ukraine proud, putting in a staunch performance that should serve them well going forward, even if they’re still to trouble the scoreboard operator in their Champions League campaign. Arsenal can content themselves with three points, and nobody need remember this night should they make it deep into the competition next spring. FULL TIME: Arsenal 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk A win’s a win’s a win, ain’t that the truth. 90 min +6: Pedro Henrique slides in hysterically on Havertz, who was thinking about taking the ball to the corner flag, but now wisely leaps out of the way. No contact, but Pedro Henrique deserves his booking nonetheless. 90 min +5: The clock ticks on, and it looks like Arsenal have done enough. Just. 90 min +4: Kryskiv dinks a cross in from the right. Gomes rises highest, six yards out, but can only flap a shoulder at the ball, which loops high before being claimed by Raya. Arsenal are hanging on. How did it come to this? 90 min +3: Shakhtar are pushing Arsenal back. Home nerves crackle around the stadium. 90 min +2: Shakhtar get a shot on target here all right. Pedrinho pearls a dipping screamer towards the bottom right from the edge of the box, and Raya is forced into full-stretch action to turn around the post. Nothing comes of the corner, but Arsenal hearts were in mouths there. 90 min +1: The first of six additional minutes is played out in the drama-free style. 90 min: A reverse of roles as Martinelli swings long from the left for Rice, who extends a leg to poke towards the bottom right. There’s no pace on the redirection, and it’s an easy snaffle for Riznyk. 89 min: A gift of a corner for Arsenal down the right. Rice sends it long. Konoplia heads clear under pressure from Martinelli. 88 min: Jorginho, who like Kai Havertz won this tournament with Chelsea in 2021, replaces Leandro Trossard. 87 min: Marlon Gomes comes on for Artem Bondarenko. 86 min: On the touchline, Mikel Arteta looks concerned. His team are labouring. 84 min: Eguinaldo makes way for Lassina Traoré. Then Martinelli is booked for flapping an arm across Konoplia’s startled coupon. 83 min: Matviyenko romps into space down the left. He feeds Pedro Henrique on the overlap. Pedro Henrique’s low cross is hit hard but nowhere near a team-mate, allowing Raya to parry clear. Fortunately for Arsenal, the rebound doesn’t fall to a black-and-orange shirt. 82 min: Sudakov hoicks a wild shot over the bar from distance. The nerves at the Emirates are palpable. It should never have come to this. So much for a nice calm evening ahead of the incoming Sunday storm. 81 min: Another loose Arsenal pass allows Eguinaldo to launch a counter. But once again he hesitates, allowing the hosts to regroup, and eventually Pedrinho is forced to turn tail. 80 min: For the record, that was Arsenal’s first penalty of the season. Last season, they converted all ten awarded. 79 min: Shakhtar go up the other end, Pedrinho and Bondarenkos shooting from the edge of a packed box. Both efforts are easily blocked, but Arsenal are making a nine-course tasting menu of this. They should be out of sight, but the visitors fancy their chances of snatching a shock equaliser now! 78 min: For a second, it looks as though VAR will dig Trossard out of a hole. A check to see if the keeper had moved off his line. But his back foot was still on the white stuff when Trossard made connection. The save’s a good one! 77 min: Trossard misses the penalty! He slams the spot kick straight down the middle, but Riznyk, who had dived to his left, whips the ball away with a trailing leg! Penalty for Arsenal! 76 min: Yep, it’s a penalty. Bondar had his arm outstretched, away from his body, and there was plenty of time for him to get it out of the way. The referee points to the spot. Trossard to take. 75 min: Before the corner’s taken, VAR takes a look at a potential handball. Seems Merino’s cross pinged off Bondar’s right arm. The ref’s asked over to the screen. 74 min: Merino looks for Trossard with a low cross from the left. He doesn’t find his man, but does earn a corner. Time for one of Arsenal’s specialist routines? 73 min: Sterling and Havertz attempt to one-two their way down the right, but the move breaks down. Arsenal are making hard work of this. 72 min: Here comes the de-jewelled Lewis-Skelly. 71 min: Well, I say Lewis-Skelly comes on in his place. He’s stopped by the fourth official and told to take off a dangling earring. He’s not on yet. 70 min: Calafiori slipped while being brushed off the ball by Eguinaldo, and looks to have tweaked something. He goes down a couple of times, then Myles Lewis-Skelly comes on in his place. 69 min: Sterling gets involved immediately, only to dribble his way down a blind alley on the right. 68 min: Gabriel Jesus, now 23 games without a goal, is replaced by Raheem Sterling. 66 min: Eguinaldo brushes Calafiori off the ball with absurd ease, and suddenly they’re three on two. But they dither and over-elaborate, and finally Pedrinho charges into Merino, and the whistle offers Arsenal relief. The home side have got really slack, and got away with a huge mistake there. A better, more confident team would have equalised. 65 min: Arsenal slow things down with some of the old sterile domination. 64 min: A double change by Donetsk, as Oleksandr Zubkov and Danylo Sikan make way for Pedrinho and the exotically named Kevin. 63 min: Zubkov jinks his way down the right and wins a corner of Martinelli. He takes it himself. It’s easily cleared, but Arsenal are getting sloppy here. 61 min: Arsenal sit off, allowing Matviyenko to drive purposefully down the inside-left channel. The hosts are fortunate the Shakhtar captain’s low cross is aimless. Arsenal have slipped into snooze mode, with the crowd’s “Come on Arsenal” chant having little effect on their heroes. 59 min: Sudakov crosses low from the right. Zubkov attempts an elaborate flick when a bog-standard belt might have been more appropriate. Arsenal suddenly look a little ragged, and Mikel Arteta orders a few of his subs to warm up. 57 min: A careless misplaced pass by Merino on the edge of his own box is snaffled by Eguinaldo, who takes a whack goalwards. That might count as the third on-target effort of their campaign. It’s deflected high into the air by Gabriel and Raya plucks the dropping ball from the sky. A stark reminder that for all Arsenal’s dominance, and their constant chance creation, the hosts are still just the one goal up. 55 min: Trossard opens his legs to advance down the left channel before whistling a low drive inches wide of the left-hand post. The keeper had it covered. 54 min: Riznyk does much better here, parrying Martinelli’s sweep from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. The save leads to a corner. Nothing comes of the resulting set piece. 53 min: Riznyk, the ball at his feet, dithers and allows Martinelli to close him down. The keeper does just enough to retain possession and hoick out for a throw, but he’s sailing close to the wind. Unlucky for the opener, but a goal there, and that would have been his fault. 51 min: Sudakov slips a clever ball down the inside-left channel for Zubkov, who turns to make space to shoot from the corner of the D. But Zubkov opts to roll a pass further down the channel in the hope of releasing Eguinaldo, and the ball trundles out for a goal kick. What a waste. Shakhtar’s impotency writ large. 49 min: Another goal for Arsenal, and there’s a fair chance Mikel Arteta might dip into his bench. Shakhtar aren’t threatening to score one, never mind two, and there’s that big game looming on Sunday. A chance to give some big names a rest may be grabbed with both hands. 47 min: Martinelli floats a deep cross in from the left. Trossard eyebrows it towards the far corner, but it’s always heading wide. Havertz telescopes a leg but can’t connect to poke home. Arsenal get the second half underway. Ben White, on a booking, is hooked in favour of Mikel Merino. Probably wise, given Arsenal’s recent red-card woes, and the fact that White had also clipped Eguinaldo from behind and was probably chugging in the last-chance saloon. Half-time entertainment. Featuring Arsenal’s first tentative steps in the post-Eidevall era. HALF TIME: Arsenal 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk Dmytro Riznyk’s unfortunate own goal is the difference … but Arsenal are well worth their lead. They’ll doubtless think they should have had a couple more. 45 min: There will be one additional minute. 44 min: A basketball game suddenly breaks out. Jesus wins the ball on the edge of the Shakhtar D. He lays off to Trossard, who finds Havertz, who in turn flicks back to Jesus, down the right-hand channel. Jesus should score, breaking his 22-game drought, but his diagonal shot towards the bottom left is kicked away. The visitors break upfield, where Eguinaldo glides in from the left before ballooning a wild shot high and wide right. Shakhtar still on two on-target efforts for their Champions League campaign. But they’re getting closer. Hey, it’s all relative. 43 min: Arsenal continue to stroke it around in the patient style. They’re in the lead, and in control, there’s no need to push it. 41 min: There’s a case to be made that Matviyenko’s clearing kick was dangerously high, but you’d need a heart of stone … or be an Arsenal supporter … to deny Shakhtar the benefit of the decision. It was great play all round. 39 min: Martinelli crosses deep from the left. Jesus heads it back across goal, teeing up Havertz, a couple of yards out and with the keeper out of position, having chased after the initial cross. Havertz is surely destined to score … and yet he doesn’t, because Matviyenko hooks clear, taking the ball off the striker’s eyebrow. What a last-ditch intervention! 38 min: A case in point: Sudakov advances down the right but there’s only Sikan in the middle to aim a cross at, and he’s surrounded by defenders. Sudakov swings it in anyway, and it’s an easy catch for Raya. Still just the two efforts on target, then. 37 min: Shakhtar are playing pretty well. Some crisp passing, a strong press … but it all falls down in the final third, where they’re achieving nothing. By all accounts, they’ve only had two efforts on target in their entire Champions League campaign so far. 35 min: That aforementioned Rice cross on 32 minutes … I’ve undersold Riznyk’s involvement. The ball was deflected and the keeper still managed to sweep it clear with Havertz lurking. Good to see the own goal hasn’t addled his head. 34 min: White goes into the book for a cynical tug on Eguinaldo’s shoulder. 32 min: Arsenal’s tails are up now. Rice crosses low from the left. Havertz can’t connect to bundle home from close range. The visitors clear their lines. 31 min: Uefa had initially given that goal to Martinelli, but the decision was never likely to stand. It’s the unfortunate Riznyk’s all right. His team-mates make a point of geeing him up. He couldn’t do much about it. GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Shakhtar (Riznyk og 29) Rice clips a pass down the left for Martinelli. He cuts into the box, twists Konoplia’s blood, then pings a low shot off the base of the left-hand post. The ball rebounds onto Riznyk’s back and in. Unlucky for the keeper, especially as Martinelli’s initial shot took a little deflection en route. 28 min: Shakhtar captain Matviyenko launches a long pass down the inside-right in the hope of releasing Zubkov, but Calafiori is on point to clear. Arsenal then counter, and … 27 min: Arsenal ping it around the back awhile. No rush. Trossard then tries to release Martinelli down the left with a diagonal rake. Goal kick all the way. 25 min: White clips Eguinaldo on the ankle. A bit clumsy. No booking, though, which is probably fair enough; it’s hardly been that kind of game. 24 min: The Arsenal fans get shoooooooooot-happy again. This time it’s Calafiori who’s encouraged to take a pelt from distance; the defender sends a pea-roller into the grateful arms of Riznyk. 22 min: Martinelli makes good down the left and rolls infield for Trossard, who flicks wide left from the corner of the six-yard box. Arsenal are yet to put Riznyk in the Shakhtar goal to work. 21 min: Rice has a dig from the best part of 30 yards. Having taken a touch inside from the left, he swivels and drags a poor effort wide left. To be fair, he was only doing what the crowd wanted. “Shooooooooot.” 20 min: Martinelli and Havertz take turns to scoop first-time passes down the inside-left channel. Trossard strides into the box only to screw a weak half-volley wide left of the target. 18 min: Eguinaldo and Sikan again combine, this time down the inside-right channel, and suddenly a game of head tennis breaks out on the edge of the Arsenal box. The hosts eventually clear, but this spell has put the Ukrainian fans in good voice. 16 min: Eguinaldo shimmies in from the left and exchanges passes with Sikan before shooting from the edge of the Arsenal box. His effort is deflected over the bar for a corner that comes to nothing, but there’s a first dispatch across the Arsenal bow. Shakhtar may be underdogs, but they’re not without teeth. 15 min: Both of these sides have a big domestic match on the horizon. Arsenal’s upcoming set-to with Liverpool we already know about; the Ukrainian champions are away at league leaders Dynamo Kyiv this weekend. 13 min: Mykhailo Mudryk, formerly of Shakhtar and now a Chelsea player, is in the stand watching his old pals. Somewhere in the multiverse, he’s on the pitch in an Arsenal shirt. It came close to happening before fate sent him to Stamford Bridge instead. 11 min: Jesus probes elegantly down the inside-right channel and a little bit of space opens up in front of him, but Kryskiv is wise to the developing situation, coming across to close it back down. Jesus falls over. 10 min: That’s settled Shakhtar down after a slightly shaky start. The game simmers down and now it’s Arsenal’s turn to get patient. 8 min: Donetsk settle things down with some patient passing at the back. Arsenal are lulled into a false sense of security. White whiffs a simple backpass and allows Eguinaldo to race down the inside-left channel. Drifting infield, Eguinaldo has the opportunity to shoot from the edge of the D, but takes too many touches and the chance is soon gone. 6 min: Trossard swings it in, and Arsenal should be leading. The visitors are unable to clear their lines, and the ball drops to Calafiori, eight yards out. He’s got enough time to fix himself, but leans back and shovels over the bar. What a chance. You’d expect better from someone who scored such a pearler at Manchester City last month. 5 min: Trossard plays a cute reverse pass down the inside-right channel to release Havertz into the box. A corner is earned. Trossard, filling in for the absent Saka, swings it into the mixer. Kryskiv is forced to eyebrow over his own bar. Trossard to try again. 4 min: A few touches for Saliba, who might as well put in 110 percent tonight. He’ll not be available at the weekend against Liverpool, with Arsenal today confirming they’ll not appeal his red card against Bournemouth. Plenty of time to put the old feet up then. 2 min: Rice swings the corner under the bar. Riznyk slaps it away. Trossard recycles on the other flank with some neat skill, but his cross is too deep for his team-mates in the six-yard box. Still, a fast start by the hosts. 1 min: Martinelli tears down the left and wins the first corner of the game on 37 seconds. A determined run. Rice wanders over to take in front of 5,000 Ukrainian fans. Shakhtar get the ball rolling. A fine atmosphere at the Emirates. The teams are out. Arsenal in their red and white finery, Shakhtar sporting second-choice black with a spatter of orange. Once the Uefa marketing bods have done their usual number on George Frideric Handel, we’ll all be good to go. “History does indeed favour Arsenal if you take a long enough look backwards,” agrees Charles Antaki, “but if very recent history is anything to go by, then unless Arteta has managed to choke off the supply of stupid pills that have been doing the rounds of the players, then we will see a parade of hilariously bad back passes, suicidal tackles, and an outbreak of ball-kicking-away. Just Say No.” The two early games have finished. Milan have beaten Club Brugge 3-1, while Monaco have thumped 1991 champions Red Star Belgrade 5-1. All of which leaves the Big Table looking like this as Arsenal, Shakhtar and everyone else go into the 8pm kick-offs. (Please ignore the technical glitch at the bottom, which keeps drawing in Celtic’s group-stage humiliation from last season, as though getting thumped 7-1 by Borussia Dortmund the other month wasn’t bad enough. Rumours that our development team work with Penny Arcade blasting from the office stereo on loop are well wide of the mark.) Andriy Shevchenko, Dynamo Kyiv and Milan legend and now president of the Ukrainian Football Association, speaks to Amazon Prime. “Shakhtar represent Ukraine here … we have to thank the soldiers on the front line who allow us to play football … best of luck to Shakhtar who deserve to be in this competition … we have to develop football in Ukraine, even in these circumstances … I know the situation could change every day … but I defend my country and the rights of my country … grassroots … women’s football … we are going to carry on and fight … Champions League is the greatest competition … Georgiy Sudakov has very good skills … an important player … big potential to become even better … he can cover different positions on the pitch … support Ukraine … the war is not finished … do what you can … during this time you know who your friends are and we want to thank the British people.” Oleksandr Zinchenko is only a sub for Arsenal tonight. Nevertheless, this obviously remains a big night for the Ukrainian, who was unable to break through as a youth with Shakhtar, but hasn’t done too badly for himself at Manchester City and Arsenal since. He discusses his career, and the difficulty of following the war back home from overseas, with Donald McRae. Mikel Arteta speaks to Amazon Prime. “No eye [on the upcoming match against Liverpool] … we had a great match against PSG and we’re going to have another one … we are very excited about it … Saka was not able to do a session in the way we wanted … at the moment I am not very hopeful [that he will be available for the Liverpool game] … I give my players perspective … we have not lost a game in six months … now we have, let’s have a reaction … we have options … in midfield and up front we have some good options … we have a lot of sympathy for Shakhtar … the difficult situation they have … we welcome them in the best possible manner … when it comes to the game we must do our best.” Shakhtar were forced to move from their home town of Donetsk in 2014 due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, a fact coach Marino Pušić references while talking to Amazon Prime: “It’s tough … facing all these challenges make you stronger … we are not complaining … we are fighters … we came here to play … so let’s play football … we had a short period to prepare ourselves … eight-and-a-half hours in the bus, then we travelled to here … every game is like an away game … we try to create a home feeling in Lviv but it’s far from a home feeling … we have to create it for ourselves … it has to come out of us … we want to show up and compete … it does not matter whether we play Arsenal or Barcelona … we have a pretty young squad … improving every day … that’s the pleasure of my job … our hotel was destroyed completely … it could have been us.” Pušić is also asked about his time working with new Liverpool boss Arne Slot while at AZ Alkmaar. “We enjoyed a lot of success … he is an amazing manager … I am very happy for him and I have no doubts about it … he is ready for everything … his tactical ability and individual approaches are excellent.” This fixture, as mentioned in the preamble, has been played on two previous occasions. Here’s what happened in 2010 … … and this is how things panned out in those sepia-toned days when MBMs were still very much in their infancy and as rare as a Martin Keown double, so it’s a straight-up match report you’re getting for this one. Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus return for Arsenal in the wake of their 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth. Mikel Merino and Raheem Sterling drop to the bench. Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka and Jurriën Timber remain on the injured list. Should Kai Havertz score tonight, he’ll become the first player ever to score in eight consecutive games at the Emirates. The teams Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice, Partey, Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, Havertz, Martinelli. Subs: Neto, Setford, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Merino, Sterling, Butler-Oyedeji, Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri, Robinson, Monlouis. Shakhtar Donetsk: Riznyk, Konoplya, Bondar, Matviyenko, Pereira Pedrinho, Kryskiv, Zubkov, Bondarenko, Sudakov, Eguinaldo, Sikan. Subs: Fesyun, Traore, Franjic, Stepanenko, Shved, Azarovi, Augusto, Ghram, Marlon Gomes, Kevin, da Silva Pedrinho, Newerton. Referee: Benoit Bastien (France). Preamble History strongly favours Arsenal tonight. The Gunners have twice before welcomed Shakhtar Donetsk to their manor; they’ve put the hurt on the Ukrainians on both occasions, 3-2 in 2000, 5-1 in 2010. Shakhtar have never won in England in seven attempts, avoiding defeat just the once, against a coasting Manchester City in 2019. Shakhtar haven’t scored in this season’s Champions League yet; Arsenal haven’t let one in yet. So all signs point to yes. But then few expected Bournemouth to turn Arsenal over last weekend, inflicting a first defeat of the season on Mikel Arteta’s side, so you never know. Kick-off at the Emirates is at 8pm BST. It’s on.