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Eduardo returns to haunt former club Arsenal

DONETSK, Ukraine — Eduardo da Silva ended Arsenal's 100 percent start in the Champions League as the Croatian's clinical strike gave Shakhtar Donetsk a 2-1 win over his former club on…


DONETSK, Ukraine — Eduardo da Silva ended Arsenal's 100 percent start in the Champions League as the Croatian's clinical strike gave Shakhtar Donetsk a 2-1 win over his former club on Wednesday.Eduardo spent three injury-ravaged years at Arsenal before moving to Shakhtar in July and the 27-year-old forward showed his old team-mates he is still a force to be reckoned with by driving in the goal which dented their charge towards the knockout stages.Arsene Wenger's side had taken the lead through Theo Walcott's superb finish early in the first half at the Donbass Arena, but Craig Eastmond's own goal drew Shakhtar level before Eduardo won it for the Ukrainian champions.It was a bittersweet moment for Eduardo, who retains fond memories of Arsenal for the way he was cared for in the aftermath of the horrendous injury he suffered in a challenge with Birmingham's Martin Taylor in 2008.But, while he refused to celebrate his winner, Eduardo was the toast of Donetsk for a goal that lifted his side level on points with group leaders Arsenal with two games to play.Wenger conceded his team had only themselves to blame for the defeat and told Sky Sports: "We had a good start but after that we became too easy. We were punished against a good team. It's a good lesson for us. "We were shown you can not get through without a 100 percent defensive concentration."We came back in the second half, but if you're not focused for 90 minutes then you will suffer. I believe it's a lack of maturity."After romping through their first three group matches, Wenger knew a victory here would have secured Arsenal's place in the last 16.But that always looked a tricky task as the Gunners had never won in four previous visits to the Ukraine and Shakhtar have a formidable home record, with no defeats in their last 48 games in front of their own fans.Injuries to midfield trio Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song and Andrey Arshavin were also a significant blow, yet Wenger's much-changed side initially seemed set to silence the vociferous home support. The

last modification 2010-11-04 01:45:27

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