IT was anything but perfect and Arsenal still have a hell of a lot of work to do.
But on a night which threatened to go horribly wrong, Mikel Arteta and his team gave themselves a chance of squeezing through to the semi-finals – despite Bukayo Saka being denied a late penalty.
Because when Harry Kane put his team 2-1 up it was all going to plan for Bayern until Leandro Trossard struck in the 76th minute.
Kane is maybe lucky that he will be able to feature in next week’s second leg as he avoided a red card with a forearm smash to the face of Gabriel Magalhaes.
While Saka was certain that he should have had a penalty in the final minute of stoppage time, when he collided with Manuel Neuer in the box.
Bayern, surprisingly given their dodgy recent form, clawed their way back into the tie with goals from two players familiar with this part of London.
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Former Arsenal forward Serge Gnabry equalised after a mix-up in the Arsenal defence and then came the least surprising moment of the night when Kane struck.
Along with ex-Tottenham defender Eric Dier, the England captain was jeered with every touch of the ball so he would have absolutely loved the moment he rolled a first half penalty past David Raya.
Having scored 14 goals in 19 North London derbies, it was utterly inevitable that Kane would score.
Even though Bayern have suffered a disappointing season and are 16 points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, you can only wonder where they would be without the goals of Kane.
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This was his 39th goal in 38 games since making the move to Bavaria and he will be hopeful of increasing that tally next week.
As for Arsenal, Mikel Arteta will need one hell of a performance next Wednesday. Thanks to Trossard, they are certainly not out of it.
Arsenal have been outstanding this season but here, they were punished for making some silly mistakes which were completely out of character.
One of the main culprits in the first half, left-back Jakub Kiwior, could have few complaints over being substituted at the break.
Despite it being such a huge game, the atmosphere was extremely strange purely because there were no Bayern fans allowed inside the stadium. This was Uefa’s punishment for their fans lobbing flares onto the pitch in away games against FC Copenhagen and Lazio this season.
Mind you, the extra 3000 or so Arsenal fans who were able to sit in the area normally reserved for away fans were certainly not complaining as this was their first quarter-final for 14 years.
Arteta opted for pace in his starting XI which meant Gabriel Martinelli was preferred to Gabriel Jesus.
And it was Martinelli who had the first chance although his shot from outside the area flashed past Manuel Neuer’s left post.
Saka created that chance and soon after, he was kicked to the ground by left-back Alphonso Davies who is now suspended for the return leg in Munich.
Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel was furious with Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg for brandishing a yellow card inside the first 10 minutes as it was a first offence.
And Tuchel had only just finished his moaning at the fourth official when his team conceded to darken his mood further.
Davies, again, struggled to cope with Saka and was caught out of position. When Saka received a simple pass from Ben White, the England forward bent an effort around Dier and into the bottom left corner.
White, of all people, found himself in a terrific position to make it 2-1 but he hammered the effort straight at Neuer.
Arteta’s players had not put a foot wrong until Gabriel played a poor pass to Kiwior and Bayern seized possession.
Leon Goretzka slipped a pass to Gnabry and from around the penalty spot, he struck a shot throughout Raya’s leg for the equaliser.
It certainly felt odd that a goal of such importance was met with virtual silence and you could once again hear a pin drop when, 14 minutes later, Kane sent Raya completely the wrong way from the penalty spot for 2-1.
Arsenal really could not have any arguments over the penalty. Sane, having torn past the struggling Kiwior, was clattered into by William Saliba.
Weirdly, a huge number of Arsenal fans got up and went for a loo break rather than watch Kane take a penalty although they knew exactly what was coming.
At no stage did Kane ever look like missing and the outcome was as expected with Bayern’s No9 easily scoring past Raya and then thoroughly enjoying his celebration in front of the home fans .
Arsenal were in danger of falling to pieces and only a stunning tackle from White stopped Sane from adding a third.
For much of the second half, Bayern held firm and protected their lead. Kane got away with his challenge on Gabriel and had a shot deflected for a corner.
Surprised it wasn’t a penalty, says Halsey
By Mark Halsey
SOME will say that Bukayo Saka initiated the contact, but Manuel Neuer stuck out his leg.
I was surprised Glenn Nyberg did not award Arsenal a penalty in real time at the end.
Bayern Munich could have no complaints if it was given, they got away with one.
Munich were very lucky.
It is subjective, so maybe that is why VAR did not get involved.
Had it been given, the decision would not have changed.
Despite introducing Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus, Arsenal struggled to test the visiting defence.
And then finally, they were rewarded for being patient and not panicking. After receiving the ball from Saka, Jesus took out three Bayern players and teed the ball up for Trossard to score although Neuer should have done better.
So at least Trossard and his team left the pitch knowing they still have a chance of, maybe, returning to Wembley for the final on June 1.
It could have been much better for them, however, had Saka been awarded a spot kick at the death.
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The England international raced onto Thomas Partey’s pass before rounding Neuer.
Saka subsequently went down in a heap, but was denied a penalty after appearing to kick his leg into the German stopper.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
