Clichy has made that mistake so many times you could name it after him

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
03 Nov	7:45 PM	CL	Shakhtar Donetsk (A)	1	2	Lost

If you read my statistical preview to yesterday's game, then another look at it might be useful for some perspective, with Arsenal showing once again that they do not travel well in the Champions League, particularly to Eastern Europe.

With several big-name injuries, almost entirely in midfield, Wenger looked to rotate his side for the game anyway, with the likes of Bacary Sagna and Marouane Chamakh on the bench. This would clearly not be one of our most important games in the coming weeks.

But, just to get our hopes up, Arsenal got off to a flyer, with a lovely goal after just ten minutes - a quick counter-attack with Wilshere's lofted pass to the speedy Walcott who rolled the ball into the corner with all the coolness of Thierry Henry. It was reminiscent of his goals against Newcastle, the only problem here was that Arsenal only managed it once.

Shakhtar were, as Wenger predicted, a very different prospect at home, and started to take control. Johan Djourou made some excellent interceptions, Fabianski some good saves, and one of their players hit the post.

Somewhere in the middle of all that they equalised, with Barca reject Chigrinsky heading against the unfortunate Craig Eastmond for an own-goal by the youngster.

Then just before half-time we were treated to a Gaël Clichy special as he dwelled on the ball instead of clearing it, lost out to Srna, who squared to Eduardo to score against us again, but perhaps not to the same warm applause as he received last time.

It's unfair that Eastmond will be credited with an own goal for the ball simply bouncing off him, while Clichy will not be for his part in their second. I have been calling for a while now for Kieran Gibbs to be first choice at left-back, but with his injury record, a new purchase for that position might be an idea in January; Clichy has made that same mistake so many times you could name it after him. I will henceforth refer to it as 'doing a Clichy'.

Barely four minutes into the second half and a Clichy 'cross' leads to an opposition attack. Thankfully nothing came of it, but the way this guy goes forward is even more of a threat to our own defence than the opposition's. His right-footed cross to Song against West Ham was a true one-off; I know it's not exactly his job to be an attacking force, but one goal and two assists in the last three seasons says a lot. He's created far more for the opposition than he has for us.

Arsenal were better in the second half, but never really direct enough. Wenger said before the game that he plans to move Walcott upfront at some stage, but I hope that's sooner rather than later, because when he's deep or wide he becomes a liability with his poor touch and poor passing. Theo had some good shots at goal, something no other Arsenal player was willing to do, but he messed up a good chance to play Bendtner in, getting the final pass horribly wrong.

Late on, substitute Chamakh was played into the penalty area, and, incredibly, took an awful touch straight back out which resulted in us losing the ball. The Moroccan has been very good and direct this season, but that to me looks like a sign of picking up Arsenal's bad habits.

While there's little need to dwell on this result too much, the inevitability of it leaves a really bitter taste in the mouth. It was just painfully clear at 1-0 up that we weren't going to try very hard for a second and we just stopped playing.

It doesn't matter now, but our record away from home in Europe is becoming an issue, will have to improve for the latter stages if we want to get anywhere.

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