Arsenal’s Champions League fate will be decided in Germany next weekend after Mikel Arteta’s side drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich on an incredible night of European action. Leandro Trossard netted an equaliser in the second half after Harry Kane’s penalty put the visitors ahead. Bukayo Saka was controversially denied a penalty deep in added time. Here are five things Express Sport took away from the game.
Leandro Trossard goal sets up enthralling second leg
Keen for more quality in attack, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus were introduced with a little under an hour to play. And it was the duo who gave Arsenal plenty to play for in Germany next week.
Jesus jinked inside the penalty and passed to Trossard, whose clinical finish made the scoreline 2-2. Arsenal might have been disappointed not to win the home leg but will certainly take a draw to Munich.
Harry Kane haunts Arsenal
Arsenal will be familiar with the feeling. Eight of the 15 Premier League goals Kane scored against the north Londoners were penalties, and many of them were match-deciding.
David Raya’s heroics in the penalty shootout against Porto in the previous round set up a place in the quarter-final. But there was little sense that the Spaniard would keep out Kane as soon as the England captain picked up the ball.
Kane embarked on a slightly different run-up to the one with which Premier League fans are familiar. The slow hop, skip and jump produced the usual outcome, though. It would have been naive to predict that Kane would have no say on this tie.
Gabriel and William Saliba make uncharacteristic errors
Centre-backs Gabriel and William Saliba have excelled in the Premier League but here, on the biggest stage, they were left wanting against Kane and co. Gabriel gave away possession in a dangerous area, allowing Bayern to break and subsequently equalise through Serge Gnabry.
Saliba then fouled Leroy Sane in the penalty area, with Kane stepping up to convert the spot-kick. Errors by Arsenal’s usually dependable pairing gives them plenty of work to do in Munich next week.
Jorginho and Jakub Kiwior struggle
It was not just Gabriel and Saliba who had off nights. Bayern enjoyed plenty of success down Arsenal’s left-hand side, where Jakub Kiwior had been picked ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Kiwior has deputised well for Zinchenko in the Premier League over the last few months but struggled up against Sane and former Arsenal youngster Gnabry. He was hauled off at half-time for Zinchenko as Arsenal sought to gain more control in possession.
Jorginho lasted until just after the hour, with Bayern finding it too easy to breeze beyond the Italian on the counter-attack.
Bukayo Saka delivers on key Mikel Arteta tactic
Mikel Arteta prefers his wingers to collect the ball as they are advancing inside. Rather than receiving possession in a static wide position, he asks the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli to be on the move.
Saka’s goal to open the scoring at the Emirates Stadium was the perfect example of that tactic. Rather than remain stationary to receive a Ben White pass, Saka moved in from the left to run on to a perfectly weighted ball by the right-back, and curled a brilliant effort into the bottom corner.
It was a frustrating night for the winger, though. Alphonso Davies nullified Saka’s threat for most of the match, but the Bayern defender will miss the return leg due to suspension after picking up a yellow card.
