Straight in.
Headline: Got it done, but not great entertainment
Arsenal got job 1 done today and probably did plenty where this should have been more comfortable.
It was also a match where they didn’t actually score a goal needing a fortunate bounce off the keeper to get on the board.
The game seemed to be played at half speed and with a serious eye towards the weekend where they wanted to just get through it.
The stats for this game look fine, Arsenal created plenty and if they were clinical this is a 3-0 game instead they weren’t and we aren’t really satisfied with it. Arsenal had 3 big chances in this game and missed them all. Sometimes that happens, and most of the time you end up with a disappointing night but at least this time it was a 1-0.
What really probably turns this into something a little more bittersweet is that this was a bit too much of the team leaning into the suffering.
The whole second half was lacking of real control. Thomas Partey moving to right back and the team feeling a bit too willing to let Shakhtar have the ball made it feel not like the Arsenal that we have come to know and have enjoyed.
Arsenal look like they are guaranteed to finish in the knockout round and have put themselves in a good spot to finish in the top 8 so it is a job done but lets just forget about this one.
Player Ratings:
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