After Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night, Oleksandr Zinchenko shared a beautiful moment with their fans.
An own goal by Shakhtar goalie Dmytro Rizynk was all that separated the two teams, with Zinchenko watching from the sidelines as an unused substitute.
Following the final whistle, he went over to the away end to greet fans from his home country and gave one lucky fan his shirt.
He then praised the Shakhtar fans, who returned the favour by cheering for their national hero.
Zinchenko has spent eight years in England, starting at Manchester City and 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 a critical 1-0 victory on Tuesday night.
Zinchenko claimed that the City lawyers said, “Look, this is an academy player contract, right?” As soon as you play your first official game for City, we will extend your contract with the same salary that we pay full-time pros. Not in this academy player deal. So, believe us.” Of course, I replied yes. Follow the dream.
‘But do you know when my next contract will come? The one who put me on full professional salary? After I had played 43 Premier League games! I won two Premier League titles while on an academy contract.