Arsenal 2-2 Bayern Munich: Carelessness and character

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

Good morning from a London hotel room where I’m going to try and piece together the 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich last night. I haven’t had a chance to watch it all back, although I do have the game downloaded, so I’ll try and do it via the key incidents.

Pre-game + early stages

I’m not someone who goes every week, but I’ve been to plenty of games at the Emirates, and I’ve never heard noise like that before. It was so loud, and so impressive. The crowd were well and truly up for this one.

The Bukayo Saka goal, curled in after a Ben White pass, sparked huge celebrations, obviously. It was a lovely finish, Kai Havertz did well to get a foot in before the White pass, and that was just the start you would have wanted. It should have settled us, and it probably should have been even better when White had a chance to make it 2-0 but shot straight at the keeper.

When you look at what happened next, that was a big sliding doors moment in this game. I’m not saying he has to score there, he is a defender in a position where you’d normally expect to see a forward, but just a bit more composure and bit more precision in the finish, and I think this would have been a very different night.

Serge Gnabry equaliser

This was careless. I know we ask our goalkeeper to play high up the pitch, but I think Raya is too high, and it causes confusion. Gabriel’s first touch isn’t brilliant, and his pass to Jakub Kiwior catches the Polish internationals on his heels a bit. Declan Rice makes a step towards the ball which allows Goretzka to run beyond him, and the ball to Gnabry sees the former Arsenal man slot home between the keeper’s legs.

This was a gift, a reminder that despite pre-game talk of how Bayern aren’t what they were, they’re still replete with quality players who can hurt you if you make a mistake. It also completely killed the atmosphere, like a balloon going pop, all the energy seemed to…

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Author : arseblog

Publish date : 2024-04-10 06:35:28

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