Arsenal 2-2 Bayern Munich: Champions League quarter-final, first leg – as it happened (2024)

And last word on that penalty shout goes to the Arsenal manager: “They said they checked it and decided it was not a penalty,” he says, not sounding entirely convinced.

Mikel Arteta: “The game had different moments,” he tells TNT. “We started really well, we were dominant, didn’t concede anything. We scored a really good goal and after that is the moment of the game when Ben [White] is in front of [Manuel] Neuer and if it was 2-0 it would have been a very different game.

“They scored and it created some uncertainty, the second goal was unusual for us to concede but it is the Champions League, you make a mistake and get punished. We allowed them the spaces to run and they were very dangerous but even at 2-1 we tried to make a rhythm, we were composed and didn’t try to rush things and the changes had an impact on the game.”

That late Saka penalty shout III: Having seen several replays, I think it was an excellent decision by the referee. Neuer ran to the edge of his area as Saka approached with the ball at his feet.

With a touch of his left foot, Saka touched the ball to the goalkeeper’s left, before kicking out with his right to ensure heavy contact was made with his left leg and Neuer’s right. I think it was the correct call but wouldn’t have been even remotely surprised if it had been given. Gooners are wlecome to disagree but it was nowhere near the stone-waller that the penalty awarded to Bayern was.

Arsenal’s late penalty shout II: “Nice objective reporting, claiming only one-eyed Arsenal fans could deny Bayern’s penalty but Saka was looking for it?” writes Nick Archard. “Bayern’s was definitely a penalty and Arsenal’s at the end was even more so. Why would Saka give up rolling the ball into the empty net? Did you see Neuer’s expression afterwards?!”

Eh, whether or not Saka was looking for a penalty is entirely irrelevant to the legitimacy of his claim. Either he was fouled or he wasn’t – whether or not he was “looking for it” is completely irrelevant.

Arsenal’s late penalty shout: “I don’t really see why Arteta should be aggrieved,” writes Colin Livingstone. “If Saka went any further out of his way to kick the goalie, he’d have needed to take a taxi.”

Harry Kane: Having praised the quality of Arsenal and the quality of Gabriel Jesus’s “chop” inside the box, Kane says “obviously we’re never happy not to win but it’s a good point away from home.”

Yes, yes … it’s a two-legged eliminator but you know what he means.

“I think we’ve seen over the past couple of years, probably during my last season at Tottenham they were really strong,” he tells TNT, when asked to compare this incarnation of Arsenal to previous ones he has faced.

“They’re having a good go at trying to win the league and they’re a really good team. We changed our plan a little bit today in terms of how we defended without the ball bec ause they keep the ball well and find the spaces but of course we know they’re a top team.”

Champions League: Serge Gnabry and a Harry Kane penalty had overturned Bukayo Saka’s early strike but substitutes Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard combined to restore parity for Arsenal ahead of next week’s second leg. Nick Ames reports from the Emirates …

Leandro Trossard: On the pitch it looked like a penalty to me,” he tells TNT, upon being asked about that late incident. “I haven’t seen a replay but for me it looked like there was clear contact but I have to wait until after to see it again, obviously.”

Are you pleased with that result: “I think not pleased but when you’re 2-1 down at half-time you take the draw at the end. I think we started so well in the first half, the first 15 or 20 minutes were so good, we could have scored two or three. At the end of the day it’s a draw and we take it and we have to finish it off.”

Post-match shenanigans: Mikel Arteta was quickly on to the pitch to complain about Arsenal being denied a late penalty but he can argue all he likes, they’re not going to get one now. I think he is entitled to feel aggrieved but his side have come from behind to earn a decent draw and have every chance of beating Bayern Munich in Germany next week.

Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeeep! The ref draws proceedings to a close with Saka still on the deck in the Bayern penalty area. He and Neuer were each running toewards a through ball, Saka got to it first but sort of thrust his leg towards Neuer to ensure contact.

I think if he’d just let the laws of physics and momentum take their course, he would have got a penalty. The fact he was clearly looking for one might have influenced the referee’s decision-making.

90+6 min: Now Saka goes down in the Bayern box after colliding with Manuel Neuer, who had come out to collect a through ball. There’s a massive appeal for a penalty but the ref waves play on.

90+5 min: Odegaard goes down outside the Bayern box under a challenge from Davies and appeals for a free-kick. None is given.

90+4 min: Trossard swings his boot at a bouncing ball near the middle of the pitch and sends it high in the air, bouncing towards Neuer, who gathers.

90+3 min: A poor touch from Trossard sends the ball out of play for a Bayern throw-in.

90+2 min: We’re into five recommended minutes of added time and Bayern are dominating these late, late stages, possibly smelling blood.

90 min: Kingsley Coman sticks out a foot to stab a Musiala pull-back from the byline on to the foot of the near post from what looked an impossibly tight angle. It’s a late let-off for Arsenal!

89 min: Partey is booked for Fernandinho-ing Musiala as the Bayern man attempted to gallop upfield on the break.

87 min: Bayern win a free-kick in a decent position wide(ish) on the left. Guerreiro floats the ball towards the far post and it ends up drifting out for a throw-in. There’s a brief break in play as Zinchenko goes down after a clash of heads.

85 min: Arsenal substitution: Thomas Partey on for Kai Havertz, who has struggled to make an impact on tonight’s game.

84 min: Saka sends an extremely inviting cross drifting across the face of the Bayern Munich goal but there’s nobody there to nod it home.

83 min: Bayern Munich are showing no signs that they’re happy to sit back and defend this scoreline, which they’ll surely be happy with ahead of the second leg at the Allianz Arena. They’re going after a third goal!

81 min: Musiala pings the ball inside to Coman, whose scuffed shot from distance is gobbled up by David Raya.

78 min: That was straight out of the top drawer by Gabriel Jesus, who showed incredible skill in a very tight and crowded space on the edge of the Bayern penalty area to dance past De Ligt and then Goretska before squaring the ball for Trossard, whose task was fairly straightforward.

Arsenal are level! Brilliant feet from Gabriel Jesus, who dances into the Bayern penalty area, sits De Ligt on his backside with a soft-shoe shuffle and squares the ball for his fellow substitute. Trossard makes no mistake, burying a low drive from about 12 yards out.

75 min: Arsenal win a throw-in deep in Bayern territory and Ben White retrieves the ball from the foot of the advertising hoarding. It’s worked inside to Zinchenko and then back out towards the touchline, where Bayern win the throw-in.

73 min: Eric Dier goes down holding his face after a coming-together with Gabriel Jesus and the Arsenal crowd respond as sympathetically as you might expect to the former Tottenham player’s plight. He’s fine.

71 min: Leroy Sane was playing a blinder for Bayern but there is a suggestion he was taken off because he was suffering from some sort of niggle. Thomas Tuchel had enquired after his welfare from the touchline a few minutes before withdrawing him and sending on Coman, who has barely played at all in the past few months.

69 min: There’s a break in play while Serge Gnabry receives treatment for an injury. He has to go off and is replaced by Raphael Guerreiro, a more defensive player.

68 min: Harry Kane, who I think is maybe a little lucky to still be on the pitch, has a shot on goal deflected wide off Declan Rice.

66 min: Bayern Munich substitution: Kingsley Coman on for Leroy Sane. Arsenal double-substitution: Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard on for Jorginho and Martinelli.

64 min: Havertz goes down in the Bayern box and appeals for a penalty. He doesn’t get one and replays show he was chancing his arm.

62 min: Laimer tries a shot from distance but doesn’t trouble David Raya in the Arsenal goal.

61 min: Kane picks out Sane with a wonderful ball out wide and the Bayern winger cuts inside into the Arsenal penalty area. He’s dispossessed by Saliba and Arsenal clear their lines.

60 min: Arsenal waste the free-kick and the ball ends up in the gloves of Neuer.

59 min: Letting the ball run past him, Saka cleverly draws a foul from Konrad Laimer and Arsenal win a free-kick in a dangerous area.

58 min: Goretzka picks up a ball inside from Gnabry and shoots from the edge of the Arsenal penalty area. Wide.

55 min: Harry Kane gets booked for catching Gabriel with a firm right-elbow into the chops as he reversed into the Arsenal defender with his back to goal and the ball approaching the duo. I’ll tell you what, that looked naughty from Harry and possibly worthy of more than a yellow card.

54 min: Joshua Kimmich steps in to intercept a Havertz ball towards Martinelli on the left flank with his head. Routine but important defending.

52 min: Zinchenko is seeing plenty of the ball since his introduction. He takes a throw-in, receives the ball back, plays it inside, gets it back again and then sends it skidding wide with an overhit delivery down the inside left.

51 min: From the left touchline, Rice overhits his free-kick and sends the ball harmlessly over the bar.

50 min: Goretska breaks up another Arsenal attack but Sane immediately gives the ball away. Sane is penalised for an accidental clip on the heels of Declan Rice out on the left wing. Free-kick for Arsenal.

47 min: Arsenal play the ball from side to side in the middle third before Jorginho pings it wide to Ben White. Havertz sends a cross towards Martinelli at the far post, where Leon Goretska cuts out the danger. Belatedly, the flag goes up for offside but that was excellent play from the experienced Bayern midfielder who, dare I say it, has kept Declan Rice firmly under wraps this evening.

46 min: Arsenal restart the game, having made one change. Oleksandr Zinchenko is on for Jakub Kiwior. I did mention before kick-off that I thought the Ukrainian was very unlucky to be left out, which clearly demonstrates that I would make a better football manager than Mikel Arteta.

Bayern’s second: “Raya dived a good second before Kane even kicked the ball,” observes Crispin in LA. “I don’t understand why more keepers don’t just stand their ground at penalty kicks. They would save all the shots down the middle and likely the poorly struck placed ones. And they would defy and confuse the takers who wait for keeper to commit.”

Well, I mean standing youir ground occasionally is OK, but if you do it all the time, penalty-takers from opposition teams will soon twig what you’re up to and never hit the ball down the middle. I also reckon that goalkeepers think not diving and conceding makes them look lazy, whereas diving and conceding at least demonstrates some effort on their part.

Peep: An entertaining half of football draws to a close with Arsenal trailing by the odd goal in three. They started brightly and went ahead through a fine strike from Bukayo Saka, before gifting two goals to Bayern courtesy of defensive blunders.

Serge Gnabry rounded off a fine counter-attack for the Bavarian side to draw them level, before Harry Kane converted from the spot after William Saliba had brought down Leroy Sane. Only the most one-eyed of Gooners will argue that it was anything other than a penalty.

44 min: Arsenal keep control of the ball, passing it around in the middle third of the pitch. One of those passes is mish*t and Bayern win a throw-in.

42 min: Odegaard wins a throw-in deep in Bayern territory and moments after it’s taken wins another corner for his team. Saka sends the ball into the mixer and referee Glenn Nyberg blows for an infringement on some Bayern player or other, probably Neuer, who was flapping haplessly.

39 min: Kane goes down under a challenge from Martinelli and is booed by the locals. The Arsenal winger avoids a booking, which seems odd considering Alphonso Davies got one for a near identical challenge on Saka earlier in the half.

37 min: That particular Bayern counter-attack came about on the back of a weak header from White that gifted possession to Sane. Between them, Arsenal’s defenders are making a lot of mistakes tonight and most of them have been unforced.

36 min: Bayern attack on the break again and Sane shows their defenders a clean pair of heels as he advances upfield. Ben White performs heroics to get back and prevent him getting a shot off.

35 min: Saka and Odegaard combine down the right and the Arsenal captain has a shot on goal blocked by Matthijs De Ligt.

33 pen: That’s not the kind of penalty-kick you associate with Kane, who normally goes for power. It was unquestionably a spot-kick despite the complaints of Saliba, who clearly tripped Sane as he waltzed into the Arsenal penalty area from the left.

Kane scores! He rolls the ball into the bottom right-hand corner sending Raya the wrong way and Bayern Munich lead at the Emirates.

William Saliba brings down Leroy Sane in the Arsenal box and it’s a stonewall penalty for Bayern Munich. Over to you, Harry.

29 min: Saliba sells Odegaard short with a poor pass near the halfway line and Gnabry pounces. Arsenal get away with another defensive error, this time made by their other defensive linchpin.

27 min: Saka sends the ball towards the near post, there’s a mini-scramble in the six-yard box and a panicked Manuel Neuer eventually claims possession.

26 min: Saka runs on to a ball from deep and Gnabry sticks a boot out to put it out for a corner, Arsenal’s first of the game.