Arsenal lose control on night of chaos but Leandro Trossard saves the day again
Arsenal’s performances this season have been all about control, but this was a night of chaos.
No more was that summed up than in the dying seconds of this match, when Bukayo Saka thought he should have had a penalty.
The winger skipped past Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, but the referee waved away his protests when he fell to the ground.
The final whistle went with no one at the Emirates Stadium really knowing if this first leg was over and, when the referee said it was, Saka and his team-mates were incensed.
It brought an end to a chaotic game and Arsenal will be pleased that they are at least firmly in this tie going into next week’s second leg.
Super sub Trossard saves the day - again
With just 15 minutes to go, Arsenal were staring down the barrel of a first-leg defeat here.
Bayern had managed to turn the second half into a stop-start affair and you struggled to see where Arsenal would find a breakthrough.
As he so often does, it was Leandro Trossard who came off the bench and to Arsenal’s rescue.
The Belgian struck in the 76th minute to score his sixth goal as a substitute this season. No player has scored more from the bench for clubs in Europe’s big-five leagues this term.
It was an excellent finish from Trossard and one that reinforces what a signing he has been. Arsenal paid just £26million to sign him in January last year and he has comfortably been worth every penny.
If he keeps this form up until the end of the season, then Trossard will have a big role to play in the run-in.
Arsenal undone by uncharacteristically poor defending
Saka’s goal was the perfect start for Arsenal, but they failed to kick on after it. Instead, the Gunners were their own worst enemies.
The two goals conceded by Arsenal were out of character for the excellent defensive displays they have produced this season.
Arteta’s side have been all about control and concentration, but both evaded them here when they needed them most.
The first goal was a catalogue of errors. First, David Raya came racing out before retreating. Gabriel then hit a sloppy pass to Jakub Kiwior, who was flat-footed.
From there, Arsenal were punished as a slick move ended in Serge Gnabry scoring against his old club.
Minutes later, it was Harry Kane’s turn to haunt the Gunners as he was gifted a penalty. Again, it was poor defending as William Saliba made a rare rash tackle to hack down Leroy Sane.
Kiwior gets a harsh lesson
Over the past few months, Jakub Kiwior has performed well at left-back for Arsenal in the absence of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
The Poland international was rewarded for that form by starting this clash, but he had a night to forget.
Kiwior was ruthlessly exposed by Sane, who skipped past him on the halfway line as part of a driving run that won Bayern a penalty to make it 2-1 to the visitors.
There was little Kiwior could do to stop the winger as he couldn’t even get close enough to bring him down.
After a half to forget, Kiwior was hooked at the break and this was a harsh lesson for him on a chastening night.
He is still only 24, and barely a year into his Arsenal career, so he has time to learn from it.
