Arsenal 3-1 Bayern Munich: Gunners too good for German giants
Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video
Arsenal made it five wins from five in the Champions League this season with the kind of performance that should make Europe sit up and take notice. If they weren’t already.
Mikel Arteta made just two changes from the side that won the North London derby with Cristhian Mosquera and Myles Lewis-Skelly coming into the back four, with Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori dropping to the bench. Bayern, as you’d expect given their record this season, arrived full of confidence and played that way. There’s also, I think, a kind of earned arrogance on the European stage. Not just because of their record against us, but their history in this competition.
It meant we didn’t have a lot of the ball early on. They zipped it around, we stayed compact and organised, and chose our moments to press aggressively. One of those led to a corner from which we opened the scoring. Martin Zubimendi forced the issue, they conceded the set-piece, then conceded from the set-piece. Bukayo Saka delivered, Jurrien Timber flicked home a header and it was 1-0 Arsenal.
That really felt like it took the wind out of their sails a bit, and we probably should have been 2-0 up just after the half hour mark when Eberechi Eze combined brilliantly with Mikel Merino on the edge of their box, and it created a chance for Sunday’s hat-trick hero. I don’t know exactly if he got his shot wrong or if he was trying to find Saka at the back post, but that was a moment that could have been pivotal. In the end, the ball squirmed agonisingly away when it ought to have been in the back of the net.
As it was, Bayern almost immediately equalised. I think the tendency when you concede is to immediately look at what you can do better, and there’s definitely some of that here, but sometimes you just have to credit the opposition with a good goal. The ball that dipped just over Myles Lewis-Skelly is excellent, the run from Serge Gnabry brilliantly timed, and his volleyed pass into the centre for Lennart Karl is perfect. The 17 year old made no mistake from close range and that was 1-1 when it should have been 2-0. Football, eh?
That concession was compounded by the loss of Leandro Trossard with what looked like a calf strain not long before the break. Noni Madueke came on to replace him, but we just cannot catch a break with injuries this season. Still, it was a high quality first half from both teams, with a technical level and intensity that made you feel it could go either way in the second half.
As it turned out, it only went one way, and that was down to one of the best 45 minutes I think I’ve ever seen from Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. Whatever was said at the break, whatever the tactical adjustments made, we absolutely dominated the game, and a brilliant Bayern side just could not live with us. Again, it’s one of those where it seems a bit unfair to single one player out during a collective performance of that quality, but it felt like Declan Rice turned his amp up to 11, and drove those around him to up their game too. He was absolutely sensational in every phase of the game, and deserved his man of the match award afterwards.
The stats bear it out too. In the second half alone Arsenal created 2.31xG to Bayern’s 0.32, we had 10 shots and made 6 big chances to their none, and there was really nothing they could do to turn the game back in their favour. In fact, it was our use of the bench that sealed the deal. Calafiori came on for Lewis-Skelly, and basically his first involvement was to get down the left after Rice intercepted in their half, and put in a cross which saw Madueke score his first goal for Arsenal. Talk about making an impact. A big moment for the summer signing too, who was lively in that early season spell without the end product you might like, so this will take some of the pressure off now that he’s back.
As for the third goal, I think it goes a long way to sum up this Arsenal team and these players right now. Michael Olise ran into trouble in our box, crowded out by four Arsenal players, including substitute Gabriel Martinelli who had come on for Saka. On 75’51, Martinelli wins it, plays a quick pass to Merino and continues his run as the Spaniard plays the ball to Eze.
10 seconds later, he’s got an open goal as Manuel Neuer, who had been out to sweep up very well previously, got caught out by Martinelli’s touch and the Brazilian had the goal at his mercy to make it 3-1.
Leaving aside this is perhaps the most Martinelli goal in Europe that has ever been Martinellied, everything you want from your team happens in that 10 seconds. Defensive commitment and organisation; technical excellence when you win the ball; the vision from Eze to make the pass; the pace of Martinelli to make the run which put the frighteners on such an experienced goalkeeper; and the composure to make the finish. Just absolutely ruthless.
And that was always gonna be game over against this Arsenal team. Bayern knew the gig was up, and when you consider where we were against them a couple of seasons ago, it’s a real statement of what we’ve done in the meantime, and where we are now. I know we beat PSG in the league phase last season, but they were a team in slight transition at that time. This was a Bayern side who hadn’t lost a competitive game since losing to Inter in April.
And make no mistake, this was a thoroughly well prepared job carried out to highest standards by the players on the pitch. The manager deserves massive credit for how he’s built this team, and the way they’re drilled for each game, but it’s down to the players to go carry that out. Read Declan Rice talking about how much of a challenge it was for them on the pitch, but it’s one they rose to superbly.
Afterwards, Arteta said:
I have to praise our players because I think they had an incredible match against, in my opinion, the best team in Europe. Individually, we were immense to resolve all the challenges that these teams bring to the table.
They are a top side. I think they haven’t lost in 20 or 21 games and you see the record. So you know the difficulty of that. We managed to do that in one game. That’s great and that shows as well the capacity that we have. I’m very pleased as well with some of the players that they’ve been given the opportunity today with all the injuries that we have. The ones that they started, the ones that they came as well to finish the game. The impact was immense and that’s what we need. Everybody connected at that level.
For me that’s such an important word: connected. You generally don’t win games like that just because one player was brilliant, you do it because everyone pulled their weight, and while last night and on Sunday there were players who stood out, it was because those around them ensured there was a platform for them to do that. If you carry passengers, you get found out, and that is absolutely not the case with this Arsenal team right now. It feels connected at the highest level.
It was also telling that the manager spoke about how this was a nice victory, but now we turn our attention to Sunday. Maintaining that level of focus will be key for this season. There’s a long way to go, of course, and he’s keeping feet on the ground, which I understand. But as a fan every game, every performance of late, makes me feel like something special could happen this season. Each one is little a little reassurance. The question for me really isn’t are we good enough, because that’s evident in the way we play and the performances we put in. It’s just about the consistency required between now and May, and that requires a crystal ball I don’t have sadly!
Anyway, another brilliant night, another big win, and now for Sunday. Don’t worry though, if you want to continue to enjoy what we did against Bayern, we’ll have an Arsecast for you a bit later today, so stand-by for that.
In the meantime, have a good one folks.
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