That was a superb game ...
I’ll have to go and have a lie-down and a long think about how exactly they won it, but the fact of the matter is that they did. Bayern Munich controlled the game for long periods of each half, but Arsenal always looked dangerous on the break and caught them with two sucker-punches from Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil. They’ve got three points in Group F, where Olympiakos have beaten Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia tonight. Panic over - the season is young yet!
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Full-time: Arsenal 2-0 Bayern Munich
It’s all over, after a comical second goal from the Gunners. With Arsenal’s goal under siege, Hector Bellerin was sent galloping down the right wing on the counter. Did he head for the corner to kill time? Of course not, he plays for Arsenal. Instead he got around his man and squared the ball for Mesut Ozil, who side-footed goalwards. Neuer looked to have made another world class save, but either the linesman or official behind the goal decided - correctly it seems - that the ball had crossed the line.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Bayern Munich ( Ozil 90+4)
Scenes! Arsenal double their lead with a contentious goal scored on a coutner-attack.
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90+2 min: Lewandowski is put in behind the Arsenal defence and dithers over shooting, for reasons best known to himself. His hesitation allows Laurent Koscielny to nick in and get in his way.
90 min: We’re in the final minute, with a few added for good measure to come. If Arsenal can hold on here, it will an outstanding result in the face of almost relentless Bayern pressure. They’ve had to make do with only 30% of the possession, but are 1-0 up in the only stat that matters.
89 min: Thiago Alcantara tries a pot-shot from distance, but it’s saved comfortably by Cech.
87 min: Bayern win two corners in quick succession and it’s all hands to the pumps in defence from Arsenal as Giroud hacks clear from somewhere between upright and corner flag to alleviate the pressure.
84 min: Giroud has been outstanding since coming on and now he gives a demonstration of superb hold-up play as Arsenal hack the ball his way out of defence and various Bayern players swarm around him.
83 min: Giroud heads straight at Neuer from six yards out, when he should have scored.
81 min: It’s worth mentioning Giroud’s bravery there, as he dived into the unknown almost certainly presuming he was going to get absolutely clattered by Manuel Neuer. Ninety-nine times out of a 100, the Bayern goalkeeper would have dealt comfortably with that dropping ball, but on this occasion he flapped like an old hen and the ball sort of dropped on to the face of the incoming Giroud. Did he hit it with his hands or his nose? I’m not certain and I’m not too bothered.
78 min: Having pulled off one of the greatest saves I’ve ever seen, Manuel Neuer made a complete dog’s breakfast of trying to clear that free-kick which Santi Cazorla had dropped into the penalty area. Scrambling to get to the ball as it dropped in behind the flapping goalkeeper, Olivier Giroud seemed to score more by accident than design as the ball hit his arms, which were up by his face, and slowly rolled over the line.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Bayern Munich (Giroud 77)
Amazing scenes as the ball takes an eternity to trickle over the line after Manuel Neuer had charged off his line top punch a free-kick clear, only to miss it completely. The ball seemed to come off Giroud’s hands as he sent it trundling towards the goal from about six yards.
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74 min: Koscielny does exceptionally well to track back and slide in to get something on a Robert Lewandowski shot after the striker was put through by Douglas Costa and was firing diagonally towards the Arsenal goal. Bayern win a corner, but nothing comes of it.
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73 min: Arsenal substitution: Theo Walcott off, Olivier Giroud on.
71 min: Arsenal win a corner, which Santi Cazorla takes, only to see his inswinger headed clear at the near post.
70 min: Xabi Alonso and Arturo Vidal off and Joshua Kimmich and Rafinha on. Well that’s a stroke of luck for Arsenal, who won’t have to contend with the passing of Alonso any more. He’s been majestic throughout.
67 min: Assorted Bayern players play keep-ball as they use the width of the Emirates pitch to ping the ball around amongst themselves. Arsenal eventually win the ball back and go on a counter-attack, with Theo Walcott failing to get his head to a cross from Mesut Ozil. It remains scoreless, although I’m not sure how.
64 min: Bayern player in misplacing a pass shock! Arturo Vidal gifts possession to Arsenal with a wayward delivery and Mesut Ozil is sent on his way with a rampaging run from the edge of his own penalty area. He runs down a blind alley and Bayern resume control.
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63 min: Muller gets the better of Nacho Monreal and sends the ball in from the right, but Arsenal earn some respite for an ALonso foul on Sanchez.
60 min: Alexis Sanchez is harried off the ball deep inside in his own half and the ball is poked towards Lewandowski on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area. His effort is blocked, but the ball breaks kindly for Alonso, who fires wide from 20 yards.
59 min: Robert Lewandowski advances towards the Arsenal penalty area from the left flank but is crowded off the ball.
57 min: Ramsey limps down the tunnel, while Chamberlain takes up position on the right side of midfield. Arsenal win a free-kick in the centre-circle as Santi Cazorla is fouled and from the ensuing attack, their first of the half, Coquelin shoots from a few yards outside the Bayern penalty area. His effort drifts wide of the top right-hand corner, but not too wide.
55 min: Aaron Ramsey goes down injured and signals to the Arsenal bench that he needs to be substituted. It looks like he’s twanged his right hamstring. Arsenal substitution: Aaron Ramsey off, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on.
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53 min: After another period of sustained Bayern pressure, Lewandowski picks up a pass from Costa and shoots for goal. His rising effort is put out for a corner by Petr Cech.
52 min: Thiago Alcantara turns Aaron Ramsey with a wonderful bit of skill that you’ll be able to see - along with several Costa moves - on Soccer AM\’s Showboat feature next Saturday. Soccer AM’s much better this season, for some reason I can’t quite put my finger on. Has Helen got her hair done differently?
50 min: Arsenal are barely getting a touch of the ball here, as Bayern toy with them at the beginning of this second half. Douglas Costa picks up the ball on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, beats Frnacois Coquelin with a little shimmy and then shoots high over the bar.
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48 min: Xabi Alonso, who has form in this particular field of expertise, attempts to score from inside his own half. His audacious effort earns a look of contempt from Petr Cech.
47 min: Bayern immediately go on the offensive, passing the ball around between the halfway line and the edge of the penalty area as they keep possession for over two minutes, before Douglas Costa wins a corner while trying to cross into their penalty area. Nothing comes of it. Still, two minutes, eh?
Bayern get the second half started at the Emirates
There are no changes in personnel on either side as the ball gets rolling.
For all their dominance ...
Bayern Munich are actually behind 5-3 in the Shots On Target department. They have, however, enjoyed 69% of the possession compared to Arsenal’s 31%.
Elsewhere in this group ...
It’s 0-0 between Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos at half-time in Zagreb.
Half-time at the Emirates: Arsenal 0-0 Bayern Munich
The teams go in all square after a first half that has somehow failed to yield a goal, but did produce as good a save as you’re ever likely to see by Manuel Neuer, after Theo Walcott got on the end of a Nacho Monreal cross from the left. Bayern have bossed the possession and pass stats, but Arsenal have looked reasonably dangerous on the break.
44 min: Standing outside his own penalty area with the ball at his feet, Manuel Neuer is given all the time in the world to survey his options, wait for Xabi Alonso to retreat unmarked from midfield and pick up the ball from his goalkeeper and play a long ball towards the Arsenal penalty area. Make of that what you will.
43 min: Alonso whips the ball into the Arsenal penalty area, where Robert Lewandowski’s header is deflected wide by Laurent Koscielny. Another corner for Bayern, which costa takes. Arsenal clear.
41 min: As we approach half-time, Bayern Munich continue to control a game in which the best chance so far has fallen to Arsenal. That’s about the size of it so far: Bayern look like the home side, while Arsenal look dangerous on the break. Douglas Costa pounces on a wayward Sanchez pass across the face of his own penalty area and advances on goal. He shoots over the bar, but wins a corner for his team.
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39 min: On the edge of his own six yard box, Philipp Lahm leaps highest to get on the end of a Theo Walcott cross and head the ball towards his own keeper. He put a fair bit of power on that header, but was obviously confident his keeper would deal with it comfortably.
37 min: Good work from Coquelin, who wins the ball deep in Bayern Munich and plays it over the top for Walcott. His shot doesn’t trouble Neuer. I’ve seen a couple of replays of his earlier save from Walcott and it was scarcely credible. The goalkeeper himself had his outtstretched body behind the line, but somehow clawed the ball away with his left hand.
35 min: Much better from Arsenal, who have finally got into the game and are giving Bayern plenty to think about. After more good play from Walcott, they win another corner off Jerome Boateng which Santi Cazorla curls into the Bayern penalty area. It’s cleared.
32 min: How did Arsenal fail to score there? Oh Theo! stabnding with his feet planted on the edge of the six-yard box, Theo Walcott gets his head to a cross from the left and steers a bullet header goalwards. It can’t possibly be kept out, can it? Of course it can - this is Arsenal we’re talking about here. With an absolutely sensational save, Manuel Neuer somehow manages to keep it out with his left-hand, to pull off one of the best saves I’ve seen in a very long time.
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30 min: A rare error from Manuel Neuer in sweeper mode results in a corner for Arsenal. The ball’s swung into the mixer, only half-cl;eared and drops perfectly for Sanchez on the edge of the area. He sends it screaming wide. This is better from Arsenal, who should have scored with one of those attempts.
29 min: In a promising position , Theo Walcott scoops the ball over the Bayern cross-bar after good work on the edge of the area from Alexis Sanchez.
27 min: Another save from Cech, this time from Arturo Vidal. The Chilean picked up a pass on the edge of the penalty area and tried to steer the ball into the top left-hand corner with a deft left-footed shot. Cech dived to his right to palm the ball away, only for it to be returned by Douglas Costa. Arsenal clear.
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25 min: Arturo Vidal goes down hurt after being subjected to a crunching tackle Laurent Koscielny. He’ll live.
23 min: Finding himself isolated with the ball on a rare foray intio the Bayern penalty area, Theo Walcott fashions a feeble shot that doesn’t trouble Manuel Neuer in the slightest. There wasn’t a great deal else the Arsenal man could do on that occasion.
22 min: With 25% of the match gone, Arsenal are getting their pants pulled down here. Bayern are dominating the pace, the tempo, the possession ... pinning Arsenal deep into their own half. Xabi Alonso is orchestrating matters from the heart of midfield, while Arsenal are relying on occasional scraps on the counter. Meanwhile on the leftwing, Hector Bellerin is getting turned inside-out by Douglas Costa.
20 min: Mesut Ozil attempts to play Theo Walcott in behind the Bayern defence after spotting the striker’s good run. Bayern clear.
19 min: Philipp Lahm pings a ball into the Arsenal penalty area, which Lewandowski is unable to get a clean header on. Moments later, Costa skins Bellerin down the left, cuts inside and tries his luck with a drive towards the near post. Cech saves comfortably.
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18 min: “It’s so easy for Bayern, Alonso’s always free ... everybody’s ball-watching. They need to start closing him down,” says BT co-comms man Owen Hargreaves. If anything, he’s being too kind to Arsenal in that appraisal.
17 min: Another corner for Bayern, who are dominating proceedings. Costa wins and takes the corner, which Arsenal clear.
16 min: Free-kick for Bayern about 40 yards from the Arsenal goal. Alonso drops the ball in to the corridor of uncertainty, where it bounces out for a goal-kick under strict supervision from Cech.
14 min: Bayern win a corner after Alaba has a long-range effort deflected over the bar. It’s taken short and Arsenal clear their lines.
12 min: Stats: Bayern Munich’s players have completed over 124 passes already, compared to Arsenal’s 40 or so. Xabi Alonso is controlling the game at the moment, spraying balls around the pitch at his leisure as he’s given the freedom of the park by Arsenal.
10 min: Save! Peter Cech does brilliantly to keep out a shot from Thiago Alcantara after Arsenal had been carved open by Thomas Muller and the Spaniard getting between their lines and completing a delightful one-two on the edge of the penalty area. He should have scored, but Cech showed great reflexes to bat the ball away with his big palms.
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9 min: Jerome Boateng tries to pick out Costa with a ball from the edge of the penalty area towards the corner flag. The Brazilian’s control lets him down and he clanks the ball out for a goal kick.
6 min: Good work from Alexis Sanchez, who dances across the face of the Bayern penalty area and plays the ball to Mesut Ozil. He shimmies this way and that before shoooting low and diagonally towards the bottom left-hand corner. Neuer dives to his right to save. Walcott tries to divert the rebound into the net, but it’s a very tight angle. Wide.
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5 min: There’s warm applause from the assembled Gooners as Bayern Miunich’s travelling fans arrive in the stadium to take their seats after missing the opening five minutes in protest at the £64 they’ve been charged for tickets in Arsenal’s away end. A few of them had convened there before the game, all the better to hold up a banner saying “Football is nothing without the fans”.
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4 min: Xabi Alonso plays a long diagonal pass towards Douglas Costa on the right flank, but Hector Bellerin robs him of possession.
3 min: Manuel Neuer gets his first chance to show off his fabled nifty footwork, coming out of his own area to clear up as Arsenal go on the attack, Moments later, Arsenal get in behind the Bayern Munich defence, with Hector Bellerin getting in behind Juan Bernat to drill the ball across the face of goal for Walcott. Offside.
Arsenal kick off against Bayern Munich at the Emirates
1 min: The ball is rolling, with Arsenal playing in their usual home kit, while the players of Bayerm wear black shirts, shorts and socks with red trim. Almost immediately, Robert Lewandowski goes on a meandering run towards the Arsenal goal and is foiled by Hector Bellerin, who clears up with what looks suspiciously like a back pass to his own goalkeeper. He gets away with it.
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Not long now ...
The teams emerge from the tunnel and line up either side of the team of match officials once Per Mertesacker and Manuel Neuer are finished catching up. The pre-match niceties - Champions League anthems, handshakes, announcement of the line-ups, anti-racism photo op between players from both teams - are undertaken and it’s almost time for kick-off. Can Arsenal do it? I have sneaky feeling they’ll take something out of this match.
How will the teams line up?
We can probably expect to see Arsenal in a 4-2-3-1. Francois Coquelin and Santi Cazorla will shield the back four, with Mesut Ozil in front of them, flanked by Aaron Ramsey to his right and Alexis Sanchez to his left, with Theo Walcott alone up front.
Bayern Munich generally play a 4-3-3: with Arturo Vidal (right) and Thiago Alcantaro (left) either side of Xabi Alonso in midfield, behind a front line of Douglas Costa, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller. But ... y’know, they’ll probably all move around a lot so I wouldn’t worry too much about all that.
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In case you were wondering: Gabriel is feeling poorly, hence his omission from the Arsenal matchday squad, so Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny start in the heart of Arsenal’s defence. Up front, Theo Walcott keeps his place, despite Olivier Giroud’s return from suspension. Pep has made one change from the Bayern side that beat Werder Bremen at the weekend, with Douglas Costa coming in for Rafinha.
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Arsenal v Bayern Munich line-ups
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott. Subs: Macey, Debuchy, Gibbs, Arteta, Giroud, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chambers.
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Lahm, Alaba, Boateng, Bernat, Vidal, Alonso, Muller, Thiago, Douglas Costa, Lewandowski.
Subs: Ulreich, Javi Martinez, Rafinha, Kirchhoff, Gaudino, Kimmich,
Coman.
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey)
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Aufstellung #FCBayern: Neuer - Thiago, Lewandowski, Costa, Alonso, Boateng, Bernat, Lahm (K), Vidal, Müller, Alaba | ^M.Hörwick #ARSFCB
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) October 20, 2015
Here is the @Arsenal team for #AFCvBAY pic.twitter.com/Cb0VF3W1Xx
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) October 20, 2015
Early team news
Petr Cech starts in goal for Arsenal, having been benched so that David Ospinacould get a run out in Arsenal’s two previous group games. Ospina didn’t cover himself in glory against Olympiakos, so Arsene Wenger goes with his No1 goalkeeper tonight.
Team news from yesterday's press conferences
For Arsenal, Gabriel is back from injury after missing out Arsenal’s 3-0 win against Watford on Saturday, while Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Danny Welbeck remained sidelined with long-term injuries. Olivier Giroud is also available after serving a one-match ban for his dismissal against Dinamo Zagreb.
In good news for the Gunners, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben were absent from Bayern’s travelling party, while Mario Gotze, Holger Badstuber and Medhi Benatia are also unavailable. Bayern have won 12 of their 13 matches in all competitions this season and in Robert Lewandowski have a striker who has scored 16 times in his 12 appearances for the club this season.
Arsenal v Bayern Munich - preview
In his pre-match press conference Arsène Wenger stressed that his current Champions League obsession centres on staying in the competition rather than winning it. It’ll be a tall order, but not an impossible one - the Gunners have extricated themselves from trickier Champions League group stage pickles before: in 2003 the found themselves with one point after just three matches and ended up topping their group.
“We have not been at the requested level,” Wenger said of the opening defeats by Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos. “The focus has been much stronger in the Premier League. We know the focus needs to be the same here. We fight the whole season to be in the Champions League, not to go out. We want to be in every competition.”
Wenger’s opposite number, Pep Guardiola has no such concerns, with his Bayern Munich team currently on top of Group F with two wins from two matches in which they’ve scored eight goals and conceded none.
“In this situation, they have the advantage,” Bayern’s coach said and we’ll have to take his word for it. “They have to win. When that happens with these kind of players they are going to make the best performance possible. I cannot expect a team that doesn’t fight for 90 minutes. It’s the last chance. In life when you have the last chance you give absolutely everything, and we have to be prepared for that against Arsenal.”
In the not amassivelyr implausible event of Arsenal losing both matches against Bayern Munich, they could conceivably still qualify for the knockout stages, although much would depend on the outcame of the next two games between Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb, who meet in Zagreb’s Maksimir Stadium tonight and again in Olympiakos’s Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis next Wednesday. If they draw both games or win one apiece, then Arsenal would still have a chance of advancing to the last 16 with wins in their final two group games.
Video: Amy Lawrence previews Arsenal v Bayern Munich
Amy Lawrence has forgotten more about Arsenal than most people will ever know. In the video below, she discusses the history between the two teams, assesses the home side’s chances and concludes that ... well, why not tune in and find out?
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