Arsenal and Bayern Munich shared the spoils in a classic Champions League encounter on Wednesday night.
The Gunners went in front through a first half goal from Eberechi Eze before Bayern propelled themselves in front with strikes either side of half-time from Alphonso Davies and a Harry Kane penalty.
But Mikel Arteta’s side refused to lie down and equalized through a terrific Declan Rice strike to ensure a 2-2 draw in a thoroughly entertaining clash although the sight of Bukayo Saka going off injured will have not been received well by the visitors.
The game started relatively tentatively with the only notable incident in the opening exchanges being the early withdrawal of England man Saka. He went down unopposed with what is a suspected thigh concern. His replacement was Eze and he would go on to net the opener, albeit after a lengthy VAR-enforced wait.
Eze latched on to a brilliant Martin Odegaard through ball and finished first time past Manuel Neuer and despite the offside flag being quickly raised, Arsenal were awarded the goal after VAR intervened.
The hosts weren’t behind long, though. Kane produced a defence-splitting pass from just inside the Arsenal half that picked out Davies and he produced a fine finish past David Raya.
Neuer then produced an excellent reaction save to deny a Bruno Guimaraes header and that proved crucial not long after the interval. During a scramble in the Arsenal box, a fierce Kane shot struck Jurrien Timber’s hand and a spot-kick was awarded. There was no doubting who would take it and Kane stepped up to send Raya the wrong way and put Bayern 2-1 up.
But the visitors continued to toil and got their reward eight minutes from time when Rice continued his run into the box, collected a lovely lay-off from Viktor Gyokeres and lashed beyond Neuer to ensure the game finished all-square. Both teams remain unbeaten in the league phase of Europe’s blue riband club competition after three matches.
Arteta said post-match: “That is one of the highest levels we played. Two teams who wanted to press each other and wanted to attack and wanted to play. It was a fascinating game.
“We started the game incredibly well, we were so dominant. Then we had to adapt without Saka. In the second half, the game was a bit even, and they scored the goals, and we had to react, which we did. We scored, and we had the chance to win it too. That is the level.”
And on Saka he added: “They are a bit concerned. A player who has to come off with a really sharp pain is never good news but we have to wait and see.”
Arsenal return to Premier League action with a home game against Everton on Saturday.
