Oleksandr Zinchenko shared a heartwarming moment with Shakhtar Donetsk’s fans after Arsenal beat the Ukrainian side 1-0 at the Emirates on Tuesday night.
An own goal from Shakhtar goalkeeper Dmytro Rizynk was all that split the two teams, with Zinchenko watching on from the sidelines as an unused substitute.
After the final whistle, he headed over to the away end to greet supporters from his homeland and handed one lucky fan his shirt.
He then applauded the Shakhtar faithful, who returned the favour as they cheered for their national hero.
Zinchenko has spent the last eight years in England, firstly at Manchester City before joining Arsenal in 2022.
Oleksandr Zinchenko took his shirt off and headed to the Shakhtar Donetsk fans at full time
Zinchenko handed his shirt to a fan in the away end as he greeted his fellow countrymen and women
Zinchenko then applauded the travelling fans amid his country’s ongoing war with Russia
But he has never forgotten about his roots, and has been outspoken when addressing the ongoing war in Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Last year, Zinchenko returned to Ukraine for the first time since the invasion, and detailed to Mail Sport the ‘scary’ living conditions he witnessed, while calling for a stop to the ‘nightmare’ war.
Stamford Bridge then hosted a friendly for Zinchenko’s charity last summer, as the Arsenal full back raised funds to help the Ukrainian people.
His efforts are clearly appreciated, leading to the warm reception he received from the away end on Tuesday night.
Zinchenko recently released a book titled Believe to look back on his rise to Premier League stardom.
The 27-year-old revealed in the book that he won two of his four league titles at City while being kept on academy player wages.
Arsenal were made to work hard but picked up an important 1-0 win on Tuesday night
Zinchenko explained: ‘The City lawyers said: “Look, this is an academy player contract, right? As soon as you make your first official game for City, we’re going to extend your contract with the real money that we pay full professionals. Not this academy player deal. So trust us.” Of course I said yes. Follow the dream.
‘But do you know when my next contract came? The one that put me on full professional money? After I had played 43 games in the Premier League! I won two Premier League titles playing on an academy contract.’
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