Arsenal’s first Champions League Quarter Final in over a decade finished 2-2 with old foes Bayern Munich with it all to play for in Germany .
Polish defender Jakub Kiwior returned to the starting XI at left-back, as did Brazilian Winger Gabriel Martinelli also started in place of fellow Brazilian Gabriel Jesus.
With the entirety of Emirates Stadium in Arsenal colours following the ban of travelling Bayern fans, Arsenal had to start strong. And start strong they did, pinning Bayern back and not allowing them to get out of their own half. That strong start would be awarded with a goal in the opening fifteen minutes as Ben White found Bukayo Saka in the box and the winger smashed a fine strike into the far bottom corner past Bayern captain Manuel Neuer to send The Emirates wild.
However, it should’ve been two just minutes later as the provider of the opener, White, found himself free in the box with just Neuer to beat however it may have been a case of right place wrong man as the defender struck straight at the opposing keeper and the score stayed at 1-0.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, they would soon after rue that missed chance as not too long later, a pass through the heart of the Arsenal defence found former Gunner Serge Gnabry and the winger finished Cooley past Raya and into the net to equalise for the Germans. The goal came totally against the run of play, being the away sides first effort on goal in the match and silenced the 60,000 Gooners inside Emirates Stadium.
And it would soon get worse for Arsenal as former Manchester City man Leroy Sane skipped past Kiwior and made his way into the Arsenal penalty area and went down under the challenge of William Saliba. Arsenal’s old nemesis Harry Kane stepped up and slotted his spot kick into the bottom right hand corner to give Munich the lead. They had been on the back foot for most of the half but went into the break ahead with their only two shots at goal finding the back of the net.
Arsenal couldn’t afford to lose the first leg at home and needed a response in the second half. However, they couldn’t create any real clear cut chances against a Bayern defence which was proving hard to break down. Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus came on and brought some intensity to Arsenal’s play. And it was those two that would combine to bring Arsenal back into the game when the Brazilian danced through the Bayern defence and laid it off to Trossard to smash home the equaliser with fifteen minutes of normal time left to play.
Their was still drama to be had though as in the dying seconds of the contest, Saka went through on goal and was seemingly taken out by Neuer when attempting to go round the Bayern keeper however the Swedish referee waved away the claims from Arsenal and the final whistle was blown with the score at 2-2 and both teams still with a chance of going through into the semi-finals.
Arsenal’s next clash is another home game, against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.
Player Ratings:
David Raya: 6 – Didn’t have too much to do
Ben White: 7 – Got an assist but should’ve scored in the first half
William Saliba: 5 – Gave away a penalty with an uncharacteristically clumsy challenge
Gabriel: 5 – Looked sloppy for both Bayern goals
Jakub Kiwior: 4 – Reallt struggled against Sane before being subbed at half-time
Jorginho: 6 – Did ok but faded as the game went on
Declan Rice: 7 – Was everywhere as usual and played some excellent diagonal passes
Martin Odegaard: 7 – Worked so hard both on and off the ball and always looked like making something happen
Bukayo Saka: 8 – Scored a great goal and looked Arsenal’s most dangerous player throughout
Kai Havertz: 6 – Worked hard but didn’t see too much of the ball
Gabriel Martinelli: 6 – Same as Havertz
Gabriel Jesus: 8 – Changed the game with his energy and got a great assist
Oleksandr Zinchenko: 7 – Did much better than Kiwior both on the ball and defensively
Leandro Trossard: 7 – Scored the crucial equaliser