Classy Bayern leave Arsenal on the brink of Champions League exit

Bayern Munich took a giant step towards progress in the Champions League with a commanding performance and a 3–1 win over Arsenal at the Emirates stadium. An excellent first-half performance from the visitors was sufficient to give them a lead through Kroos and Muller, even though Podolski pulled a rather fortunate goal back for the Gunners. A third Bayern goal through Mandzukic rounded off a great night for the Bavarians.

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 19: Philipp Lahm of Bayern Muenchen celebrates after team-mate Mario Mandzukic scored their third goal during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match between Arsenal and Bayern Muenchen at Emirates Stadium on February 19, 2013 in London, England.

It was an exciting start to the game, with end-to-end action seeing both sides cause early problems to the opposing defences, especially Arsenal, who seemed to channel attacks down the right wing. A couple of crosses from Walcott and Ramsey came to nothing, while a Bayern corner was successfully seen out by Arsenal. It was the visitors who drew first blood though, with an excellent volley from Toni Kroos. A mishit cross from Muller bounced kindly for the striker, who made no mistake with a right footed volley into the pitch, which bounced awkwardly and beat Szczesny to make it 1–0 in the 7^th minute.

Arsenal continued to live dangerously, conceding a couple of free-kicks just yards away from the box, both of which were blocked by the wall. All the pressure eventually paid off for the German side, as their lead was doubled just post the 20 minute mark courtesy Thomas Muller. A van Buyten header from a corner was saved by Szczesny, but the ball fell just inches from the goal-line and was fired into the top of the net by Muller, leaving Jupp Heynckes all smiles.

Arsenal had a good chance at goal when Mertesacker let go of an effort at the edge of the Bayern box, but saw it blocked away by Toni Kroos. It was a very similar situation to the one which Kroos had scored from, with a volley from the German defender, that was blocked in this case. Arsenal’s growing influence in the game was nearly rewarded when a slip from David Alaba let Bacary Sagna in behind the defence, allowing him to pass the ball to Walcott. The Englishman’s shot was blocked and Arsenal remained goalless.

Bayern almost scored again just before the break, through their top scorer of the season, Mandzukic. A run from Phillip Lahm went completely unchecked, allowing the full back to play an inch-perfect cross for the striker, whose header was mere inches wide of the post. Thus it was that Arsenal went in at the break having conceded two away goals to Bayern, with the boo boys out in considerable numbers around the Emirates.

The second half began on a much more equal footing, and Arsenal soon pulled a goal back through former Bayern star, Lukas Podolski. It was a goal from a corner, which was wrongly given by the referee as Cazorla’s effort had gone behind off an Arsenal player but was deemed to have taken a touch off a Bayern defender. The defending on the corner though was as poor as the decision, with the ball allowed to bounce around the penalty spot, leaving Podolski the easiest task of nodding it home to give Arsenal hope at 2–1.

There were a couple more bright moments from the German attacker before he was replaced by Olivier Giroud. The Frenchman nearly had a perfect introduction to the pitch, as his first piece of action was to volley towards goal a cross from Walcott. This volley, however, was directed straight at Neuer, and was saved, albeit awkwardly, by the ‘keeper. However, the game and the overall tie were nearly finished off with an almost mandatory goal from Mandzukic in the 77^th minute. A great choice from Robben to feed the ball to the overlapping Lahm let the full-back roll it across the box, where it looped off the boot of Mandzukic and bounced over the line to make it 3 – 1 to the visitors.

Both Szczesny and Neuer were called into action soon after, with efforts that were relatively easy to save, with Mario Gomez sending a rebound blazing over the bar. Yet, there was little that either team could do to alter the scoreline, even in spite of some below par defending from the home side towards the end.

Result: Arsenal (Lukas Podolski 55’) 1 – 3 Bayern Munich (Toni Kroos 7’, Thomas Muller 21’, Mario Mandzukic 77’)