The Gunners felt that they were denied a penalty in the dying seconds of Wednesday's draw with Bayern Munich – but it was a clear dive
When the final whistle blew at the end of a dramatic 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich at the Emirates, Arsenal fans were still hoping that VAR might come to their rescue. They were convinced that they should have had a penalty just seconds beforehand, and were incandescent with rage that it had not been given.
Mikel Arteta and his players were pretty upset too, and Bukayo Saka looked suitably stunned. It was all an act, though. The Arsenal ace had tried to pilfer a penalty by kicking Manuel Neuer, who had rushed off his line to close Saka down as the winger surged into the Bayern box in the dying seconds.
It was never a foul, as clear a case of a player trying to con the referee as you're ever likely to see, but that didn't quell the sense of injustice around the Emirates, of course. It also didn't disguise the fact that an Arsenal victory would have been wholly undeserved.
Indeed, Bayern had been the better side after a nervy opening, and it was they who warranted a winner, with Kingsley Coman striking the post late on (the xG was 2.08 to 1.22 in the visitors' favour). As a frustrated Thomas Tuchel was at pains to point out afterwards, the visitors also had a far stronger case for a penalty of their own.
GOAL runs through the winners and losers after an absorbing Champions League quarter-final first leg in north London…
GettyWINNER: Harry Kane
There was never any doubt that Kane was going to score, was there? And from the penalty spot, too. These may be dark days at Bayern, but Kane has been their shining light all season long. He was the one man you just knew wouldn't be lacking in confidence. After all, he quite enjoys playing against Arsenal.
This was his sixth goal at the Emirates – a record for a visiting player – and one couldn't help but marvel at Kane's composure. As he strolled up to the spot, he sold David Raya a dummy before calmly rolling the ball into the back of the net for his 39th goal of the season in all competitions, and his seventh in the Champions League (nobody else has more).
It almost goes without staying at this stage, but his all-round game was excellent too. Some of his hold-up play – under fierce pressure from Gabriel Magalhaes – was outstanding, and some of his distribution took the breath away.
Kane's had to put up with an awful lot of abuse from Arsenal because of how 'Spursy' things are going for Bayern this season, but he could yet have the last laugh at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday week.
AdvertisementGetty LOSER: Arsenal's 'world-class' centre-backs
After Arsenal’s statement victory over Brighton on Saturday, Gabriel and William Saliba were being widely proclaimed as the best centre-back pairing in world football. It seemed like a reasonable claim too. Since the turn of the year, the Gunners defensive record has been scarily good, and the complementary defensive duo is a big reason why.
But when the Champions League music starts blaring, even the most accomplished players can shrivel under the lights. And that’s what appeared to happen to Arsenal’s gruesome twosome on Tuesday.
The circus of sloppiness that led to Serge Gnabry’s early leveller was kickstarted by Gabriel’s nervous pass into midfield, and the Brazilian did not recover in time to cancel out his error. He also didn’t emerge from the Leroy Sane penalty incident smelling of roses, though at least he wasn’t the man who brought him down. That dubious honour belonged to Saliba, whose trip allowed Kane to give Bayern a 2-1 lead with just their second shot of the game.
The Frenchman was similarly disappointing across the two Porto games in the round of 16, and it’s worth remembering that these are the first, properly high-pressure, one-off games he’s playing in for Arsenal, given he missed last year's run-in. Gabriel, however, does not have the same excuse.
Regardless, the pair need to get over this apparent stage-fright soon, as this is far from the last huge match they’ll need to perform in this season.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Mikel Arteta's super-subs
Substitutes have provided some memorable moments for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in recent times. Last season, we had Reiss Nelson’s insane cameo against Bournemouth, while Kai Havertz came on to head home a vital winner against Brentford more recently.
Leandro Trossard is normally good for goal from the bench too, and after providing the dagger at Brighton last time out, the Belgian popped up with an even more important strike on Tuesday. In the moments before his introduction, the energy was beginning to ebb away inside the Emirates as Bayern repelled the home side's attacks and offered a threat on the counter themselves. But just 10 minutes after his introduction, Trossard got the electricity pulsating around N7 again.
Fellow substitute Gabriel Jesus was the architect of the equaliser, showing quick feet in the box that Michael Flatley would’ve been proud of before laying it on a plate for his team-mate. Trossard’s finish was full of conviction too, as he buried it in the corner to ensure his side entered the second leg all square.
Jesus and Trossard weren’t the only substitutes to impress, either, as Oleksandr Zinchenko had a string of good moments in possession after replacing Jakub Kiwior at half-time. All of this will give Arteta plenty to think about ahead of his side’s trip to Bavaria next week.
Getty LOSER: Jamal Musiala
Jamal Musiala is a fine footballer. At 21, he's only going to get better, too, which is an exciting thought, given he pretty much won Bayern the Bundesliga last season with his final-day heroics. However, his performance at the Emirates was undeniably poor. Truth be told, it was incredible that he lasted the entire 90 minutes.
Musiala worked hard, made some interceptions and drew fouls with his dribbling skills. But, maybe Gabriel Martinelli aside, he was arguably the weakest attacker on show, both from a defensive and offensive perspective. He was nowhere near as threatening as Saka, Sane or Gnabry, and didn't show anywhere near the same level of intensity in his pressing as Martin Odegaard, for example.
Musiala should get another chance to prove his undoubted world-class potential in the second leg, but with Kingsley Coman almost back up to speed after his recent injury lay-off, it would not be a surprise to see him benched, with the Frenchman put back on the right flank and Sane moved into the No.10 role.