Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal suffered with tiredness against Shakhtar Donetsk

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal looked tired in their slender 1-0 Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk at the Emirates.

The Gunners bounced back from their surprise defeat against Bournemouth after Gabriel Martinelli’s first-half strike rebounded in off goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk to maintain their unbeaten record in Europe.

But Leandro Trossard missed a second-half penalty and David Raya had to produce a fine stoppage-time save to be sure of the three points. Arsenal’s evening was also soured when Riccardo Calafiori limped off with a knee injury in the second half.

Arsenal hosted Shakhtar just 72 hours after playing one hour with 10 men in their 2-0 defeat at the Cherries, with Liverpool – who they trail by four points in the Premier League – up next at the Emirates on Sunday.

“The first half we were very dominant, and we created four big chances that we should have converted and put the game to bed,” said Arteta.

“The second half was very different and we looked tired, and lacked that sharpness, with and without the ball. We missed a penalty. And that emotion was difficult to overcome. We had to dig in. But overall it’s Champions League, get the win, clean sheet. Let’s move on.”

However, Arteta insisted he expects his side to be back on song when Arne Slot’s side visit on Sunday.

He added: “We played two nights ago, with players coming back from internationals, after flying from Brazil and many countries.

“I was expecting a bit of a drop-off. And the fact that we put so much in the first half and didn’t get the distance in terms of the scoreline, we paid a bit for that.

“Then we made life more difficult for us because we started to give the ball away in not the right areas and then it was more open. That didn”t help.