Arsenal turned on the class with a mouth-watering second-half performance to hammer five past Shakhtar Donetsk and maintain their place at the summit of Champions League Group H with a 5-1 victory.
- Arsenal 5-1 Shakhtar Donetsk: As it happened
A fumble by Ukraine stopper Andriy Pyatov allowed Alex Song to open the scoring before Samir Nasri doubled the hosts' advantage just before the break.
Cesc Fabregas scored a penalty on his return from injury and Jack Wilshere and Marouane Chamakh also got on the scoresheet with two brilliant goals before former Gunner Eduardo grabbed a consolation for the visitors with eight minutes left.
Arsenal took the lead on 19 minutes with a scrappy goal, following a terrible error by Shakhtar goalkeeper Pyatov, who was under no pressure when he came to collect a corner, but contrived to drop the ball in the six-yard box.
Emmanuel Eboue reacted quickly to stab the loose ball goalwards, which Song flicked on, before Olexander Kucher's clearance ricocheted back off the Cameroon midfielder and over the line.
Shakhtar had a couple of long-range efforts which failed to hit the target. It proved costly as Arsenal doubled their lead on 42 minutes.
Eboue and Song worked the ball down the right, before the midfielder sent a cross into the penalty area, which deflected through to Nasri on the far side. The in-form French winger sidestepped Darijo Srna before smashing the ball past Pyatov.
Arsenal were then gifted a third goal from the penalty spot on the hour after Adriano had wrestled Johan Djourou to the ground. Fabregas stepped up to smash the ball into the top-left corner - and lifted up his shirt to reveal a Catalan birthday message for his mum.
It was exhibition stuff from Arsenal now, as Chamakh and Tomas Rosicky exchanged passes to release Wilshere into the area, and he chipped in number four on 66 minutes.
Morocco striker Chamakh then sprang the offside trap, played on by the full-back, to slot home his sixth goal of the campaign. But it was Eduardo who had the final say, volleying home a well-taken effort in the closing stages, which he did not celebrate while receiving applause from the home fans.
Source: PA
