Arsenal, leader of the Premier, never managed to dominate Tuchel’s suffering Bayern, which goes from crisis to crisis in the Bundesliga, without a game and on the threshold of a mutiny of its staff against a coach whom it does not seem to understand. Arteta’s team could not do anything other than follow their own perplexity in the face of the stubbornness of the adventurers led by Harry Kane until 2-2. Only Trossard’s entry in the second half redeemed the gunners.
2
David Raya, Gabriel, Jakub Kiwior (Zinchenko, min. 45), William Saliba, Ben White, Jorginho (Gabriel Jesus, min. 66), Odegaard, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz (Thomas, min. 85), Bukayo Saka and Martinelli (Trossard, min. 66)
2
Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Matthijs de Ligt, Alphonso Davies, Eric Dier, Sane (Kingsley Coman, min. 66), Jamal Musiala, Laimer, Leon Goretzka, Gnabry (Raphael Guerreiro, min. 70) and Kane
Goals 1-0 min. 12: Bukayo Saka. 1-1 min. 18: Gnabry. 1-2 min. 31: Kane. 2-2 min. 76: Trossard.
Referee Glenn Nyberg
Yellow cards Alphonso Davies (min. 9), Kane (min. 54) and Thomas (min. 88)
The emotional factor outweighed tactical, technical and physical considerations. Arsenal played stiff from the weight of a history that places them at the top of the Premier League with seven games left. The pressure moves to the Champions League, where Porto, in the round of 16, already took them to the limit of the penalty shootout. He passed through the eye of a needle to encounter an adversary who was also tormented, but for other reasons. Bayern is on track to lose its first Bundesliga after 11 victorious seasons. The social demand on players multiplies every day. Bayern, the most powerful team in continental Europe due to the caliber of the signings made since 2021, urgently needs to hold on to the Champions League no matter what. In that spirit he went to London.
Thomas Tuchel was playing for his position. After the defeat against the newly promoted Heidenheim (3-2) it became so evident that he had lost the locker room that the board considered dismissal. The trip to the Emirates was a trip to limbo. Bayern played to survive. Formless. Without ideas. Led by Kane and Musiala, the players limited themselves to grouping together, desperately getting out of the pressure, and counterattacking with Sané.
Neither Bayern nor Arsenal managed to get rid of the respective pressures they suffered with more or less determination. The hitting of balls intensified. Until Odegaard appeared on the scene, Arteta’s team did not find a way to put together plays with judgment and depth. A pass from the Norwegian to Saka on the right side triggered the 1-0 action, scored by Saka himself. The reply came five minutes later following an indecisive start by Magalhaes with Kiwor. Sané stole, Goretzka passed between the center backs and Gnabry defined on Raya’s departure.
The party had no owner. The ball bothered both teams equally. Kane, dropped to the midfield to establish order, dictated the times when Bayern had it but moved away from the area where he could be more conclusive. After a counterattack by Sané, unleashed with great strides until causing Saliba’s penalty, the English nine scored the 1-2 from a penalty. It was the execution of an old custom: his 14 goals against Arsenal in the Premier remind us that the north London club was his most frequent victim.
Only the introduction of Trossard for Martinelli in the second half straightened Arsenal’s crooked course. It is not easy to explain why Arteta keeps this versatile winger on the bench. His emotional stature in the face of any adversity, his dynamism, the malice of his actions against the most expert defenses, and a sharp mind that makes him make ideal decisions under pressure, place him far above the performance of Havertz, the team’s favorite. coach. But reality is stubborn. The Belgian made it 2-2 in the wake of the disorder generated from a throw-in by his team. At 29 years old, this winger who does everything well, appeared in the weak zone of the play and fired a shot at the edge of the area. The draw does not seem like enough assets to travel to Munich without apprehensions next week. But he had the virtue of taking Arsenal out of the stupor.
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