Declan Rice strikes late to salvage point for Arsenal at Bayern Munich
RICE RICE BABY: Arsenal's Declan Rice celebrates scoring. Pic: Adam Davy/Press Association.
What the Champions League phase lacks in jeopardy, it continues to make up for in quality as the Harry Kane-inspired Champions of Germany went within minutes of ending a long unbeaten run of the Premier League’s finest in a high-standard match in Munich.
One-time local north London nemesis Kane looked to have won the night for the Bundesliga’s best by scoring from the penalty spot and assisting Alphonso Davies’s equaliser after Eberechi Eze had fired Mikel Arteta’s men into a deserved lead.
Kane’s party celebrations were muted by a brilliant 82nd minute equaliser by his England international team-mate Declan Rice. An injury-time tip over the crossbar from a Jurrien Timber shot denied Arsenal a shock win.
These two giants of European football could well meet again later in the competition as they remain among the tournament’s favourites to win it alongside defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Bayern are close to being invincible in a stadium where the only thing more relentless than the rain last night was the drumming and chanting of their ferociously passionate, faithful supporters.
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No midweek sick notes as witnessed at some other Champions League less populated stadia this week.
Kane, who netted from the penalty spot after 61 minutes, sent keeper David Raya the wrong way with a stutter run and lifted a shot into the top right-hand corner of the Arsenal net. It marked his 58th goal in the Champions League and 16th in all appearances against Arsenal, his boyhood club who rejected him as a youth player, with nine coming from spot kicks. Some record from an absurdly consistent player.
Kane’s seventh assist (he has scored ten too) of the season was also of the highest order as he curled a 35th-minute low pass inside Timber for Davies to run on to and cancel out Arsenal’s lead.
Arteta’s side, runners-up to PSG in last season’s final, had gone in front in the most unlikely of circumstances as early substitute Eberechi Eze volleyed in from a world-class Martin Odegaard through ball.
Tactically, Bayern tried to stretch Arsenal with Davies pushing high from left-back and their wide players moving inside to create room around the outside of Arteta’s compact defensive shape. Kane repeatedly dropped away from the centre-backs, linking play and tempting one of them to follow him, while runners attacked the space he had created. Arsenal were disciplined without the ball, with Rice screening the defence and the wide players dropping back to deny Bayern easy overloads.
Their back line held its shape under sustained pressure, although Kane’s movement and Bayern’s quick switches of play eventually created the openings for the penalty and Davies’s goal.
Eze was only playing as Bukayo Saka had been forced off with what looked like a potentially serious thigh muscle injury inside eight minutes of the match. After that change, Noni Madueke moved to the right wing with fellow England international Eze brought on to play on the left.
Hooked at half-time after an ineffective 45 minutes at Nottingham Forest on Sunday, he shot his side ahead after 25 minutes with a finish of the highest quality. In-form captain Odegaard set up the chance with a brilliant to pass to set up the chance inside the left-hand side of the Bayern penalty area.
The angle seemed too difficult to beat a keeper of the quality of German legend Manuel Neuer, but Eze let the ball bounce into his path before his unerringly accurate finish. There was a brief scare when a linesman flagged for offside, but VAR replays showed the Arsenal forward was comfortably onside.
Arsenal carried a different threat.
Rather than committing numbers recklessly, they looked to play through Bayern’s first press and attack quickly once Odegaard or Rice received the ball facing forward. Madueke’s switch to the right gave them pace against Davies, while Eze’s tendency to drift infield allowed Calafiori to advance and gave Odegaard another passing option between the lines.
A disappointing Kai Havertz struggled to hold the ball up, but Gyokeres offered greater strength and directness after coming on. That change helped Arsenal move higher up the pitch in the closing stages, when their patience and fitness were rewarded.
Rice’s equaliser reflected a performance built on control, resilience and a willingness to attack whenever Bayern’s aggressive positioning left space behind midfield.
It took another Arsenal substitute, Gyokeres to set up the late chance for Rice that ended with the goal to secure a deserved draw for Arteta’s men. Boring Arsenal? Not on this showing. Not when there are two teams keen to play football.
Neuer 6, Stanisic 6, Kim Minjae 6 (Tah 46), Upamecano 6, Davies 7 (Brown 85), Pavlovic 6, Laimer 6, Bischof 6, Gnabry 6 (Karl 68), Saibari 6 (Diaz 68, Ndiaye 90), Kane 7.
Raya 6, Timber 6, Konsa 6, Gabriel 6, Calafiori 6, Rice 7, Guimarães 6 (Lewis-Skelly 69), Odegaard 7 (Merino 85), Madueke 6, Saka 6 (Eze 8), Havertz 5 (Gyokeres 68).
Davide Massa (Italy) 6.
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