Bayern Munich 1 (Schweinsteiger 54) – 1 Arsenal (Podolski 56)
Man of the Match – Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
Arsenal were knocked out the Champions League First Knockout Stage, for the 4th season in a row, and a second time by Bayern Munich in as many seasons, despite a valiant effort to salvage the 2-0 loss suffered at the Emirates 3 weeks ago, at the hands of the Bavarian giants.
With a massive mountain to overcome, the manager drafted in captain Thomas Vermaelen at left-back, in place of the injured Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was handed a start in central midfield alongside Mikel Arteta, while there was a start for former Bayern striker Lukas Podolski as well. Due to an admin error, Arsenal were able to name only 6 substitutes, as Ryo Miyaichi was declared ineligible to participate in the competition. With Aaron Ramsey, Kim Kallstrom, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Nacho Monreal injured, Wojciech Szczesny suspended, Yaya Sanogo and Niklas Bendtner not travelling with the squad, the manager was forced to name Emiliano Viviano, Isaac Hayden and Serge Gnabry on the bench.
The start of the match was pretty even, with Schweinsteiger forcing an early save from Lukasz Fabianski, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain drawing a foul from Brazilian international Dante, after marauding his way through the Bavarian defence. Bayern, playing the tiki-taka way, under Pep Guardiola, were giving Arsenal a lot of chasing to do, as they kept the ball close to themselves, and making runs on both wings.
Arsenal, on the other hand, responded through Lukas Podolski, who beat his marker, Spanish international Javi Martinez, but his effort was thwarted away for a corner. Minutes later, Arjen Robben’s effort went narrowly above the bar. Arsenal were holding their own in hostile German territory, and Arsenal’s fans were adding to the atmosphere in the Allianz Arena.
Bayern through they had taken the lead through Javi Martinez’s close range header, but it was flagged for offside. Podolski picked up an unnecessary yellow card for kicking the ball away. Bayern were increasingly looking to get on top of the Gunners by using cheap tactics, and employing Arjen Robben, who opted to fall over like a ballerina at every opportunity he got.
Arsenal were having little outlets to break away from the pressure, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain being one of them. Bayern, unable to contend with the Englishman’s pace, decided to hack him down, as Arsenal relieved themselves of Bayern pressure. Arsenal got two chances 10 minutes before the break, first when Cazorla’s free kick went just wide, and then Olivier Giroud’s header on target was saved by Manuel Neuer.
Bayern responded with a flurry of chances. Laurent Koscielny had to resort to last minute desperation, to block a Robben shot, before Mario Mandzukic headed just over. Mario Gotze was denied by Fabianski, before Arsenal’s defenders were forced to make several last ditch challenges to prevent the bludgeoning German champions from taking the lead before half-time.
Mesut Ozil, anonymous on the night was subbed at half-time, after pulling his hamstring in just the 2nd minute. Tomas Rosicky came on for the former Werder Bremen midfielder. Arjen Robben, unable to get past Thomas Vermaelen, who put in a solid shift at left-back, flung himself to the ground at the slightest touch, but the referee caught the Dutcman’s cowardly act, and asked him to grow some balls, but refrained from showing a yellow card.
Bayern, soon were in the lead. Franck Ribery drove in from the left, and teed up Bastian Schweinsteiger to tap home the opening goal of the match, rather easily. Bayern were now 3-0 ahead in the tie. But, amazingly, Arsenal got one back less than 120 seconds later. Olivier Giroud combined effectively with Lukas Podolski, and the German shoulder dropped his international captain and close friend Phillip Lahm to the ground, before shooting a rocket from the most ridiculous of angles to make it 1-1 on the night.
The goal gave the steamrollering champions something to think about, as they appeared jittery for a while, and Arsenal plenty of hope. Chamberlain forced Neuer into a save, before Podolski drove forward, crossing in dangerously. Giroud teed up Rosicky, but Javi Martinez managed to clear the danger.
Bayern, who recognized Thomas Vermaelen as a liability at left back, were barely able to get past the Belgian defender, who had a fine outing, assisted admirably by Podolski, who did not shun his defensive duties. Some one touch passing almost resulted in a Bayern goal, but Fabianski bravely saved from Mandzukic.
With 15 minutes left to play, and 2 goals still required to progress, Arsene Wenger decided to give it a good old go, sending young German Serge Gnabry on for Mikel Arteta, who looked a bit off the pace on the night. Thomas Vermaelen got a yellow card for hacking down Franck Ribery, which was pretty pleasing to watch. No, really.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who did plenty of running on the night was replaced by Mathieu Flamini. Serge Gnabry had a couple of quick attempts, the second of which was a left footed effort, when he was in plenty of space, and probably should have taken his time. With the match going to injury time, and Arsenal pummeling the Bayern defence, Arjen Robben got a chance to break away, but was closely followed by Laurent Koscielny, who did fantastically well to track the Dutchman back.
The Dutchman, who most probably shares a room with Robin van Cunty during national duty, and derives his derisory behavior from there, went down howling like a pack of cards, at the slightest touch from Koscielny, with the referee assigning a penalty.
Thomas Mueller’s penalty was stopped finely by Fabianski, who had to be brave to stop the German from slotting home the rebound. That was the last effort of the night, as the match ended 1-1, with Bayern progressing through to the next round 3-1 on aggregate.
It however was a valiant performance from a depleted Arsenal squad. Koscielny, Sagna and Mertesacker were at their usual bests, while Thomas Vermaelen now has put in two good performances. Lukasz Fabianski, on his way out of the club, served well in goal, in the absence of Wojciech Szczesny.
The highlight of the evening, was the performance of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who didn’t seem intimidated by the quality of the opponent, and constantly caused problems for their defence. Lukas Podolski, who was quieter in the first half, put in a much improved second half performance, tracking back to defend, and scoring a goal too. Olivier Giroud, though isolated up front, put in a decent shift, assisting Podolski’s goal. With Ozil quiet in the first half, Cazorla was at the heart of Arsenal’s creativity.
It hurts to see Arsenal getting knocked out of this stage of the competition, yet again. But, over the two legs, and despite the red card and all, Bayern were probably the better side, despite fielding an absolute cunt like Robben in their side.
It’s time to concentrate on the domestic front now, with plenty still left to play for. 10 games in the league, and there’s that small matter of a FA Cup semi-final against Wigan. And a final after that. A trophy, maybe?
Jai Arsenal 🙂
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