Dogged Arsenal fight to a draw against Bayern

Bayern, to be fair, headed into the game with their confidence shaken as their decade-long stranglehold on the Bundesliga is being brought to an end by Bayer Leverkusen. To make matters worse, their supporters were banned for the match by Uefa for using pyrotechnics in their last-16 match against Lazio. But the German giants have a rich pedigree in the Champions League, with their mental edge over the Gunners being a key factor in the buildup.

Because of that, perhaps, It was the visitors who made an impression in the first few minutes of the contest. But Arsenal aren’t the same side that squandered a great opportunity towards the end of the last season. As was evident in their draw away at Manchester City recently, they have a lot more grit now and began to take control of proceedings with some slick passing.

Gabriel Martinelli fired a shot just wide before Alphonso Davies, a crucial cog for Bayern, put in a clumsy tackle on Bukayo Saka to get a yellow, which ruled him out of the return leg. Arsenal took the lead minutes later as Saka curled a superb shot into the corner. The 22-year-old, who has looked a bit lost at times on the pitch of late, seemed hungry from the get-go this time around and made no mistake cutting in from the right.