At the Emirates on Tuesday, the Premier League team defeated its Ukrainian opponents despite a number of missed opportunities.

On a night when missed opportunities and injury fears dominated north London, Arsenal defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 in the Champions League, but it required an own goal from goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk to secure the victory.

Just before the half, Gabriel Martinelli’s strike bounced against the post and looped in off the unfortunate Riznyk, giving the home team the advantage and the appearance of a resounding victory.

However, they blew multiple chances to end the match, with Leandro Trossard’s feeble penalty saved after the half and terrible misses from Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Jesus before the half.

With Sunday’s pivotal match against Liverpool looming big, Mikel Arteta’s injury-plagued team lost Calafiori to a concerning-looking knee injury, but the hosts survived a nerve-wracking final few minutes to make it seven points out of a potential nine thus far in Europe.

Goalkeeper & Defence

David Raya (7/10):

Had very little to do on the night, but was alert in the dying seconds to make a vital save to deny Pedrinho.

Ben White (5/10):

Replaced by Merino at half-time. Didn’t look 100 percent fit and was on a booking, which might explain the substitution.

William Saliba (7/10):

A fairly comfortable night’s work after his red card at the weekend. Never really put under pressure.

Gabriel Magalhaes (7/10):

Looked to defend on the front foot as always. Made a couple of important blocks.

Riccardo Calafiori (7/10):

Missed a golden early chance to open the scoring. Got forward well at times and linked up with Martinelli. Went off injured in the second half after appearing to twist his knee. Worrying for Arsenal.

Thomas Partey (8/10):

the player who dominated the first half, both with and without the ball. returning to his peak performance, which is encouraging. After White left the game, he moved to right-back for the second half.

Declan Rice (7/10):

Looked to drive forward when he could. Had a couple of sights on goal he could maybe have done better with. Played some nice cross-field passes.

Gabriel Martinelli (7/10):

Bright on the left and is unlucky that the first goal will not be credited to him after it went in off the keeper. Arsenal’s stand-out attacker.

Gabriel Jesus (6/10):

You could see that miss was a big burden on him because he should have scored right before halftime. played alright but for it. played on the right wing and got on the ball a lot, which caused issues for Shakhtar.

Attack

Leandro Trossard (6/10):

produced issues with his pressing and buzzed around all night. had a couple of good touches and missed a header early in the second half. Arsenal’s night in front of goal was summed up by a really bad penalty at the end.

Kai Havertz (6/10):

Unable to score for the eighth successive home game. Worked hard, but didn’t really get a chance all night. It was a surprise not to see him take the penalty.

Subs & Manager

Mikel Merino (6/10):

On for White at half-time. Made a few important blocks defensively, offered very little in attack.

Raheem Sterling (5/10):

Couldn’t really get into the game. Little impact.

Myles Lewis-Skelly (N/A):

Replaced the injured Calafiori.

Jorginho (N/A):

On for the final few minutes.

Mikel Arteta (6/10):

made a few adjustments to his starting lineup, but he resisted the temptation to add Ethan Nwaneri. At halftime, the young player might have been substituted, but Merino was chosen. As a result, his team’s key sections lacked vitality.