Goal-hungry Theo Walcott upbeat despite Arsenal loss

Striking form: Theo Walcott continued his blistering form since returning from injury with a delightful early goal
11 April 2012

Theo Walcott believes Arsenal are still well-placed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions league despite their 2-1 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine tonight.

Walcott had given the visitors an early lead but a Craig Eastmond own goal, on his European starting debut, levelled matters before former Gunner Eduardo struck a winner just before half-time.

It meant Shakhtar drew level with Arsenal at the top of Group H, while extending their unbeaten home run to an impressive 49 games.

"It's a tough place to come to. They have a good home record," Walcott told Sky Sports 2.

"You want an early goal. We wanted to silence the crowd and work from there, but that's football in the end.

"Going in a 2-1 down, it could have been more for them. We didn't defend very well after going ahead.

"My goal doesn't mean anything because we couldn't quite get the win. But we're still in a strong position. We're still top."

Speaking about his 10th-minute strike, which Walcott took early after making a quick break, he added: "I felt the keeper wasn't quite set and I took him by surprise. That's something I've been practising and it came off.

"I always feel now I'll score them."

Manager Arsene Wenger said his injury-hit squad showed a lack of maturity to allow Shakhtar to recover from going behind early.

"We had a good start but after that we became too easy," he said.

"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% defensive concentration. We came back in the second half, but they were intelligent as well.

"We had the chances in the second half but we couldn't take them.

"If you're not focused for 90 minutes then you will suffer."

The Frenchman also admitted his frustration at being unable to tie up qualification to the next round.

"It is a missed opportunity of course. If we get away with a draw we are there," he said.

"We should have made the most of it after we scored the first goal like we did, I believe it's a lack of maturity.

"We dropped a bit of our urgency and we were punished because they are good players."

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