Saka’s Wrong – That was Never an Arsenal Penalty
Mikel Arteta and his players were pretty upset too, and Bukayo Saka looked suitably stunned. It was all an act, though. The Arsenal ace had tried to pilfer a penalty by kicking Manuel Neuer, who had rushed off his line to close Saka down as the winger surged into the Bayern box in the dying seconds.
It was never a foul, as clear a case of a player trying to con the referee as you’re ever likely to see, but that didn’t quell the sense of injustice around the Emirates, of course. It also didn’t disguise the fact that an Arsenal victory would have been wholly undeserved.
Indeed, Bayern had been the better side after a nervy opening, and it was they who warranted a winner, with Kingsley Coman striking the post late on (the xG was 2.08 to 1.22 in the visitors’ favour). As a frustrated Thomas Tuchel was at pains to point out afterwards, the visitors also had a far stronger case for a penalty of their own.
Supersport24 runs through the winners and losers after an absorbing Champions League quarter-final first leg in north London…
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There was never any doubt that Kane was going to score, was there? And from the penalty spot, too. These may be dark days at Bayern, but Kane has been their shining light all season long. He was the one man you just knew wouldn’t be lacking in confidence. After all, he quite enjoys playing against Arsenal.
This was his sixth goal at the Emirates – a record for a visiting player – and one couldn’t help but marvel at Kane’s composure. As he strolled up to the spot, he sold David Raya a dummy before calmly rolling the ball into the back of the net for his 39th goal of the season in all competitions, and his seventh in the Champions League (nobody else has more).
It almost goes without staying at this stage, but his all-round game was excellent too. Some of his hold-up play – under fierce pressure from Gabriel Magalhaes – was outstanding, and some of his distribution took the breath away.
Kane’s had to put up with an awful lot of abuse from Arsenal because of how ‘Spursy’ things are going for Bayern this season, but he could yet have the last laugh at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday week.
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GettyLoser: Arsenal’s ‘world-class’ centre-backs
After Arsenal’s statement victory over Brighton on Saturday, Gabriel and William Saliba were being widely proclaimed as the best centre-back pairing in world football. It seemed like a reasonable claim too. Since the turn of the year, the Gunners defensive record has been scarily good, and the complementary defensive duo is a big reason why.
But when the Champions League music starts blaring, even the most accomplished players can shrivel under the lights. And that’s what appeared to happen to Arsenal’s gruesome twosome on Tuesday.
The circus of sloppiness that led to Serge Gnabry’s early leveller was kickstarted by Gabriel’s nervous pass into midfield, and the Brazilian did not recover in time to cancel out his error. He also didn’t emerge from the Leroy Sane penalty incident smelling of roses, though at least he wasn’t the man who brought him down. That dubious honour belonged to Saliba, whose trip allowed Kane to give Bayern a 2-1 lead with just their second shot of the game.
The Frenchman was similarly disappointing across the two Porto games in the round of 16, and it’s worth remembering that these are the first, properly high-pressure, one-off games he’s playing in for Arsenal, given he missed last year’s run-in. Gabriel, however, does not have the same excuse.
Regardless, the pair need to get over this apparent stage-fright soon, as this is far from the last huge match they’ll need to perform in this season.
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Getty ImagesThe Winner: Mikel Arteta’s super-subs
Substitutes have provided some memorable moments for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in recent times. Last season, we had Reiss Nelson’s insane cameo against Bournemouth, while Kai Havertz came on to head home a vital winner against Brentford more recently.
Leandro Trossard is normally good for goal from the bench too, and after providing the dagger at Brighton last time out, the Belgian popped up with an even more important strike on Tuesday. In the moments before his introduction, the energy was beginning to ebb away inside the Emirates as Bayern repelled the home side’s attacks and offered a threat on the counter themselves. But just 10 minutes after his introduction, Trossard got the electricity pulsating around N7 again.
Fellow substitute Gabriel Jesus was the architect of the equaliser, showing quick feet in the box that Michael Flatley would’ve been proud of before laying it on a plate for his team-mate. Trossard’s finish was full of conviction too, as he buried it in the corner to ensure his side entered the second leg all square.
Jesus and Trossard weren’t the only substitutes to impress, either, as Oleksandr Zinchenko had a string of good moments in possession after replacing Jakub Kiwior at half-time. All of this will give Arteta plenty to think about ahead of his side’s trip to Bavaria next week.
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Getty (Arsenal Penalty)The Loser: Jamal Musiala
Jamal Musiala is a fine footballer. At 21, he’s only going to get better, too, which is an exciting thought, given he pretty much won Bayern the Bundesliga last season with his final-day heroics. However, his performance at the Emirates was undeniably poor. Truth be told, it was incredible that he lasted the entire 90 minutes.
Musiala worked hard, made some interceptions and drew fouls with his dribbling skills. But, maybe Gabriel Martinelli aside, he was arguably the weakest attacker on show, both from a defensive and offensive perspective. He was nowhere near as threatening as Saka, Sane or Gnabry, and didn’t show anywhere near the same level of intensity in his pressing as Martin Odegaard, for example.
Musiala should get another chance to prove his undoubted world-class potential in the second leg, but with Kingsley Coman almost back up to speed after his recent injury lay-off, it would not be a surprise to see him benched, with the Frenchman put back on the right flank and Sane moved into the No.10 role.
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Getty (Arsenal Penalty)Let’s get a couple of things out of the way right from the off: Bayern were all over the place in the early exchanges, desperately lucky that Ben White didn’t take a glorious chance to double Arsenal’s advantage – and indebted to a gift from Gabriel.
Tuchel also erred horribly by taking Sane off midway through the second half. The former Manchester City winger had tormented Kiwior to such an extent that Arteta removed him during the interval. He’d also won the penalty from which Kane put Bayern ahead with a devastating dribble right into the heart of the Gunners defence that Saliba could only end by taking Sane down.
At the end of the day, though, Bayern got a draw that nobody was anticipating. Their results and performances in recent weeks and months have been atrocious. On Saturday, they threw away a two-goal lead to lose at FC Heidenheim!
So, holding in-form Arsenal cannot be construed as anything other than a minor victory for the outgoing Bayern boss. It may have been more by accident than design, but Tuchel now has a chance to go some way towards restoring his reputation as a top coach by knocking the Premier League leaders out of Europe next week.
He may even avoid what looked inevitable before this game: becoming the first Bayern boss to oversee a trophy-less season since 2012!
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Getty (Arsenal Penalty)The Loser: Bukayo Saka
Talk about a night of contrasts for Saka. Inside 12 minutes, the Hale End academy product was in absolute dreamland, with his perfect, swept finish giving Arsenal their first Champions League knockout-stage lead since 2015. After that, he quietened down somewhat, though he was afforded a chance to win it for his side right at the death when he was slid through on goal.
With Saka bearing down on him at speed, Bayern goalkeeper Neuer got there a second too late, presenting him the opportunity to give Arsenal a one-goal lead heading into the second leg. His first move was perfect, with the winger easily rolling the ball around Neuer, but what happened next will be debated for some time yet.
Due to the speed at which top-level football is played, it’s often hard to discern a player’s intention with 100 percent certainty, but you’d have to be extremely charitable to claim that Saka wasn’t cynically looking for a penalty here.
Why he decided to dangle his leg out as opposed to firing off a shot at the unguarded goal is mystifying – and if Arsenal exit this tie by a single goal, without Arsenal penalty, it will be a decision that could haunt the England international. He had one goal on the night, and what a strike it was, but really, he should have had two.
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