Arsenal boss hopes players can learn from Shakhtar Donetsk defeat
Aresnal manager Arsene Wenger says that his side can learn from their 2-1 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
The Gunners had come out on top in the sides’ previous clash when they thumped the Ukrainian side 5-1 at the Emirates Stadium. However, they were not so fortunate when the clubs met in the return game at Donbass Arena on Wednesday, 3 November.
Theo Walcott put the visitors ahead after ten minutes, but they could not hold on to their lead. Goals by Dmytro Chygrynskiy and former Arsenal striker Eduardo Da Silva (‘Eduardo’) gave Shakhtar the victory. As a result, Shakhtar moved to the top of the qualifying
group alongside Arsenal.
Despite the disappointment of the loss — where a win would have seen Arsenal book their place in the last 16 of the competition — Wenger has tipped his charges to put the bad result behind them as they are still in a good position to qualify from the group.
''You cannot lose focus at any moment'
He told the Press Association that: "We have learned the lesson that at this level you cannot lose focus at any moment and that is why we were punished.
"But we are still in a strong position in the group. We lost concentration in the duels and you could see what was coming towards half-time.
"We had a good start, but after we lost our urgency and let Donetsk come into the game too much. I felt we moved out of the game altogether and moved into the game altogether, so it was more of a team problem, a kind of complacency problem more than an individual
problem.”
Wenger added that his men would be ready for a ‘fight’ in their upcoming English Premier League clash with Newcastle United.
He said that: "At the moment we are not in a position where we can choose — we have to fight. We will win what we can and not choose too much."
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