.png)
2 hours ago
1
This was billed as a clash of two of the best teams in Europe and for most of a cold evening in north London it felt like it. An absorbing game which ebbed and flowed throughout saw Bayern Munich’s rising star Lennart Karl cancel out Jurriën Timber’s opening goal from a corner before Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli sealed a deserved win for Mikel Arteta’s side to maintain their 100% record in the Champions League so far and go top of the table. A place in the knockout stages now seems a mere formality.
Harry Kane let it slip in the buildup to this match that scoring against Arsenal gives him “a bit more joy” than any other club. But the England striker barely had a sight of goal as a Bayern side that had also won their first four matches in the Champions League group stage were taught a lesson. Arteta resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes before Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. He opted to start Cristhian Mosquera in central defence rather than Piero Hincapié as Myles Lewis-Skelly came in at left-back, while there was a welcome return for the captain, Martin Ødegaard, on the bench.
Having made history as the youngest player in Champions League history on 4 November, Max Dowman was not involved after scoring twice in a 4-2 Uefa Youth League win over Bayern as, when the Gunners’ 13-year-old Luiz Munoz became the youngest player ever to feature in the junior competition. The German club have their wunderkind in the form of Karl, who became their youngest goalscorer in this competition last month. Such is the trust in the diminutive forward that he was deployed in the No 10 position alongside an attacking triumvirate that has scored 50 goals between them already this season.
Bayern’s plan seemed to try and take the sting out of a boisterous home crowd still on a high from Sunday’s evisceration of Tottenham. They dominated possession in the opening 20 minutes as Arsenal were restricted to two attempts from set pieces that were flagged offside. But there was to be no such reprieve when Timber leaped highest at the near post to head in Bukayo Saka’s corner. Kane admitted grudgingly beforehand that Arsenal have capitalised on the recent proliferation of goals from set pieces but Bayern’s defenders were incredibly slow to react as the Dutchman crept in front of Manuel Neuer to apply the finishing touch.
The goal seemed to galvanise Arsenal as Declan Rice and Martín Zubimendi began to take control in midfield. Bayern were pushed back deeper and one stray pass from Kane was met with hearty jeers. But after Eberechi Eze couldn’t quite get his shot away after exchanging passes with Mikel Merino, Bayern responded with a sucker punch. A raking ball from the back by Joshua Kimmich picked out the run of Serge Gnabry and his touch across goal was perfect for Karl to fire into the net first time.
Arsenal seemed shellshocked and they could have found themselves behind had Josip Stanisic not dragged his shot wide when Lewis-Skelly was again caught out of position. There was more bad news for Arteta when Leandro Trossard had to limp off just before the break after receiving treatment, with the Belgium forward heading straight down the tunnel as he was replaced by Noni Madueke. A defensive mix-up between William Saliba and Zubimendi then almost led to catastrophe before Arsenal were somehow able to scramble the ball away to safety with Kane lurking.
An uncharacteristic error from the usually dependable Kimmich almost gifted Saka a goal at the start of the second half but Neuer was able to tip his shot over the bar. Dressed more like he was off to a skatepark in baggy trousers and a hoody, Vincent Kompany looked on nervously whenever Bayern conceded a set piece. He was reprimanded by the fourth official for straying over towards Arteta’s technical area before Merino just failed to make contact from another Saka corner after a late intervention from Jonathan Tah.
Not for the first time, Karl left Lewis-Skelly for dead with a sublime piece of skill but he could only shoot straight at David Raya. Merino was inches wide of the target with another header from a corner before Kompany was shown a yellow card for protesting when Dayot Upamecano took out Madueke. The pressure was building.
after newsletter promotion
Yet somehow Saka didn’t react quickly enough when Neuer saved with his foot to deny a rampaging Rice and an open goal went begging. It took an error from Upamecano to finally restore their lead as he gave the ball straight to Rice and Riccardo Calafiori’s first involvement after coming off the bench was to set up Madueke for a tap-in.
There was more for Arsenal’s supporters to celebrate as Bayern pressed forward in search of an equaliser. Eze’s long ball caught out Neuer on the halfway line and a clever touch from Martinelli with his thigh set up an easy finish to send them home happy for the second time in four days.
