It was expected that the clash between Arsenal and Bayern Munich was going to be an all out war, with two European juggernauts locking horns for a chance to be in the semifinals of the competition. Both sides had contrasting domestic forms as Arsenal currently sit in pole position in the Premier League, albeit by goal difference, while Bayern Munich are miles adrift from their lofty ambitions of winning the Bundesliga with Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen performing at elite levels right now.
The stage was set and it was showtime, with Arsenal heavily motivated especially with the fact that there were no Bayern fans in attendance following the ban imposed by UEFA. The Gunners drew first blood when Kai Havertz and Ben White worked well to tee up Bukayo Saka that used Eric Dier as a decoy to curl the ball past Manuel Neuer. This was the start the Gunners hoped for and the Emirates was rocking.
However, Bayern got back to the game after some school-boy errors from the Arsenal rearguard that has been imperious in the turn of the new year. David Raya was in No Man’s Land when he came to sweep a ball further up the pitch but Gabriel anticipated it and dallied on the ball while under some pressure from Harry Kane. Instead of Gabriel taking the safe option to Row Z, he decided to pass the ball to Jakub Kiwior that wasn’t on the same wavelength with him. Bayern pounced on the loose ball and launched an attack that saw the ball get to Serge Gnabry’s feet and his first-time shot went in between Raya’s legs to equalize the contest.
Things went from bad to worse then Leroy Sane got the better of Kiwior somewhere close to the halfway line and made a surging blistering run that saw him evade all his markers before he was scythed down in the box by William Saliba. Kane took the spot kick and it was inevitable as he made short work of Raya’s early move to side-foot the ball for a Bayern Munich lead.
Arsenal probed and hassled but Bayern maintained their composure to keep Arsenal at bay. Thomas Tuchel took out Sane for Kingsley Coman while Gnabry succumbed to an injury and was replaced by Raphael Guerrero. Arteta made some positive changes too with Oleksandr Zinchenko coming on for an ineffectual Kiwior at half time, as well as Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard replacing Gabriel Martinelli and Jorginho.
Both Arsenal substitutes combined effectively for the equalizer as Jesus showed his silky foot work in the box to evade his markers before a carefully threaded ball to Trossard that went past Neuer with a one-time effort.
Just when it looked relatively poised at 2-2, Coman had a chance late on at the death that went between Raya’s legs but the post spared his blushes. At the other end, Saka was hacked down by Neuer but the referee waved play on as all Arsenal appeals for a penalty fell on deaf ears. We have seen those given in the past but hey, here we are.
While focus would shift to Aston Villa before the second leg in seven days time, one must wonder how the outlook of the game would have been if the Arsenal defense didn’t commit such errors.
Errors like that get you punished at this level and I hope there would be learning points that need to be implemented.
Sayonara.
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