Arsenal: Fabianski, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen; Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Cazorla, Ozil, Podolski; Giroud.
Subs: Viviano, Flamini, Gnabry, Jenkinson, Rosicky, Hayden
Arsenal secured a creditable 1-1 draw against Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich but on a night when they were made to chase the ball for long periods at the Allianz Arena they couldn’t find the cutting edge to overcome a 2-0 first-leg deficit. Bastian Schweinsteiger gave the home side a deserved lead on 54 minutes only for Lukas Podolski to smash home a controversial equaliser within three minutes. Arsenal pressed for a second in the last ten minutes but as energy levels ran low they came close to losing on the night. In injury-time Koscielny brought down Robben for his second penalty of the tie, only for Fabianski to make a fine save from Muller.
Arsene Wenger charged an attacking line-up with securing a fast start; Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla backed up by the pace of Chamberlain and guile of Ozil. At the back captain Thomas Vermaelen replaced Gibbs while on the bench Wenger named only six substitutes after UEFA pointed out at the last minute that Ryo Miyaichi was in fact ineligible to take part.
In a frantic opening Bastian Schweinsteiger had the first shot on goal stinging the palms of Fabianski from distance while a great break by Chamberlain forced Dante into a desperate foul which resulted in a booking for the Brazilian defender.
Wenger paced the touchline, clapping his men as they closed down in midfield. They they needed to with Bayern probing down both wings in the opening 15 minutes. At the other end tenacious work by Podolski saw him turn Javi Martinez and whip in a decent cross which was blocked for a corner. Manuel Neuer had no problem catching Cazorla’s set piece delivery and when the Bavarians reached the Arsenal box in double-quick time Robben bounced an effort over Fabianski’s bar.
Nerves jangling, the Arsenal support entertained themselves with the prospect of forthcoming adventures. “Wem-ber-ley, Wem-ber-ley, we’re the famous Arsenal and we’re going to Wem-ber-ley,” they sang with gusto.
Seconds later Bayern had the ball in the back of the net. But as Martinez went to celebrate his volleyed finish from a free-kick the linesman correctly whacked up his flag for offside. In the build-up Podolski had picked up a yellow for booting the ball away after Vermaelen’s initial foul on Lahm.
Arteta joined the German in the book just before the half-hour mark as he lunged after the ball having miscontrolled. Bayern were definitely in the ascendancy, the Gunners unable to retain possession for any length of time.
It took a brilliant run by Chamberlain, charging like a bull off the wing, to relieve the pressure. For the second time the home side resorting to hacking him down. Cazorla’s free-kick from most of 30-yards was deflected wide of goal and although Giroud leapt well to make contact with Ozil’s subsequent corner there wasn’t enough pace to seriously trouble Neuer.
Eight minutes before the break. Koscielny made an important block from a Robben shot after Bayern’s favourite tactic of escaping behind Vermaelen again nearly paid dividends. Mario Mandzukic headed over, Fabianski denied Mario Gotze and Koscielny and Mertesacker were forced into a series of last ditch clearances, but at the break Arsenal were decent value for the 0-0.
Tomas Rosicky did some salacious stretching in the dugout before replacing Mesut Ozil at the break, the German suffering from a tight hamstring.
The nasty little cheat Robben threw himself to the ground hoping to win a penalty five minutes after the break. The referee waved him to his feet but remarkably chose not to book the pathetic shit.
Not long after Bayern took the lead. Ribery danced down their left, passed to Schweinsteiger who waited for Fabianski to dive before lofting the ball over the Pole.
Amazingly the lead only lasted two minutes. Podolski appeared to push Lahm to the floor as he escaped into the box but he didn’t stop running at goal and blasted the ball past Neuer at the near post from a tight angle just four yards out. It was a fine finish against his old club. In fairness, it probably shouldn’t have been allowed to stand. It was a foul. But fuck it. Blame Robben for being a prick.
Smelling blood, Arsenal were quick to attack again. Chamberlain fired from outside the box forcing Neuer to save. All across the pitch you could sense the adrenalin racing through the men in yellow. A low Podolski cross on 65 minutes needed to be cleared, then the Bayern keeper got cocky with a clearance and Giroud nearly found Rosicky only for Martinez to sweep up.
Fabianski showed great bravery to deny Mandzukic after his defence had been undone by some typical tippy-tappy play by the hosts. On the left, Vermaelen was impressively resolute at left-back given he was the focus of most of Bayern’s attack.
Arsene Wenger threw caution to the wind with 14 minutes remaining withdrawing Mikel Arteta and chucking on Serge Gnabry. His side were starting to look leggy having chased the ball around for long periods but they kept pushing forward. Martinez and Vermaelen both got yellows. The Belgian’s for rather satisfyingly crunching Franck Ribery although he did require treatment himself in the aftermath. Chamberlain who’d run himself into the ground was replaced by Mathieu Flamini with seven minutes remaining.
Gnabry made space for a couple of shots as the clock ticked down, but as the noise from the home support rose Bayern continued to break. In injury-time Koscielny did well to force Robben away from goal as he caught the Gunners short in defence but when the Frenchman lightly brushed the Dutchman’s ankles he naturally went down. The referee had no qualms pointing to the spot. Amazingly Fabianski saved the penalty from Muller even winning a foul as the midfielder attempted to slot home the rebound.
The Gunners forced Bayern straight onto the back foot with seconds remaining still trying to find a winner, but despite their gallant efforts they couldn’t quite find a finish to match their tenacity.
Not taking anything away from Bayern, they made it all but impossible for us to string more than 3 or 4 passes together, but the ‘tactical’ fouls were infuriating. Every time we broke they commited seemingly innocuous fouls on the edge of our box which weren’t enough to get a booking but broke up our play. That fucked me off.
Not the worst or best performance, but again we lost it at home.. Now, we got to drink from the FA cup COYG!!
I am proud to be a gunner! Twice we’ve gone to the allianz arena, twice we’ve come back with a positive result! I mean barca was murdered there, madrid lost there, man utd, juve, they all lost there, tell me why I shouldn’t be proud of arsenal… Even if the ref did try to give bayern all 3points which they never deserved. COYG
True, but both times Bayern entered the game 2 goals up and played a bit with the handbrake on which is probably why we have never gotten blown out of the water like the other teams that played the first leg in the Allianz. We still showed heart though!
You could argue Bayern played with the handbrake on last year, but there’s no way you could say the same this year. They went all out to kill this tie off, and as we pushed up on them in the 2nd half they were beginning to fold. Most Bayern fans would not have found that comfortable viewing in the 2nd half and would have been glad to get through this tie I’m sure. Really proud of this team, our character is truly brilliant. I just hope we start reaping some deserved rewards by finally turning the tables instead of coming… Read more »
Why didn’t they “blow us out of the water” in the first leg then? Did they have the handbrake on then too?
Funny they only do that when Arsenal are on the pitch with them… Or, are you overlooking the fact that we’re not a shit team that allowed them to do what they want?
We had chances. There were opportunities to shoot, play a key pass, or play behind to beat the high offside trap, but we could not capitalize.
Flamini would have made sure Ox tracked Schweinsteiger or done it himself. If Arteta is not going to take set pieces with a chance for a shot on goal, then why is he starting ahead of Flamini? *sigh*. . .
We had chances.
Tactical fouls are actually a part of Guardiola’s book; see Martinez falling like a weeping child for …a finger in the nose by Podolski ? It is infuriating but that is actually the idea behind it. Now, Pep looks more classy than the Mourinho’s of this world but he seems to actually push the players to do it when they have a lead to defend. I hate it but, is it not something every winning team does, at least one game per competition ? In the same vein, I can’t recall a recent competition, Euro or World cup, when the… Read more »
Give Podolski a start and he
WILL give you the goals.
Gave him a start against Stoke.
Don’t know why Wenger hasn’t used him more seeing as we have our 2 biggest goal scorers out in Ramsey and Walcott. I know Poldi doesn’t fully fit our pacy one touch brand of football, but he is guaranteed to give you goals and isn’t afraid to take a shot which we have been lacking recently.
Also @AFCEdwards, tell me who played well against Stoke. It was a poor overall team performance.
Robben is the type of guy that sets out from minute 1 looking for a penalty and that mindset is typifing that of a diving thundercunt.
Robben is fair game for me, he’s spent his entire career cheating like a little cunt to the frustration of opposition players and fans alike. I was in a rage waving my fists about just watching him.
I couldn’t be trusted to keep my head if I was on the pitch with him. In fact, I think I would seriously try to hurt him if I had the chance.
Does that make me a bad person? :/
Is it only me who thinks Vermalaen should always start ahead of Monreal at left back?
Did anybody noticed that Neuer intentionally dodged poldi’s shot?
Sure, maybe against Bayern when they have Robben and Lahm coming down that side, but not against almost every other team where we will be dominating and need Monreal’s attacking threat.
So you see a train coming at you at 50mph and you think “im gonna stay and see what happens”
You’re gonna move out the way bitch! poldi is here!
Of course we need to try and win every competition we participate in, but frankly we are not ready to win the Champions League yet in my opinion (unless with a huge amount of luck like Chelsea). Either way, there are many positives to take from our performance tonight and in the competition in addition to our season as a whole. The FA Cup should hopefully be ours and we are still in contention for the title. A couple of additions in the summer, namely a striker, and we will be ready to compete with anyone. The future is bright… Read more »
Giroud is plain terrible for this level. Got no speed, no skill and the only thing he’s good at is holding the ball but can’t even remember if there was one time he done that tonight. Sanogo is raw but got potential and I’d rather start him cos he’s got the hunger too which I’ve never seen in Giroud.
Would you be saying that if he scored two goals, like he often does? No. Be quiet. Every time he misses he punches himself up about it. He’s bloody excellent for the team.
He did piss me off at the end there, was all sluggish and dragging his feet when could have got the goal himself or squared it to a free poldi. I think moments like those define a match. he should have done better.
Bayern were the taking and a captain to get his side at their face and im pretty sure we would have scored more…heck even qualify.
That said glad we didnt lose, sp*rs are in for it sunday!
Now calling Giroud Excellent is a bit over the top. Hehe. Yes he is a good footballer, and at his best he is very good indeed. But this entire season and last, he has had one stellar performance, and then he goes mute for 3-5 games not contributing with much, and then he suddenly has another good game. And so on. He is the most inconsistent player i can remember that we have ever had. But as i Said, at his best he is good enough for Arsenal, but he needs to be alot more consistent in a team that… Read more »
Must disagree about Giroud’s consistency. First, he plays a lot of minutes, usually alone up top. He wins a remarkable number of headers, links up well, and does as much defensive work as any forward I can think of. Today for instance he was in his own half much of the match because Bayern kept us bottled up; is that his fault? He was flagged for offside once a couple yards into Bayern’s half, which tells you how thoroughly Munich was throttling us for a lot of this game, especially the first half. I admit his finishing is not great,… Read more »
What always pisses me off when people slate Giroud is that it isn’t about him. He IS good enough; we just need at least one more striker of that quality or better. He works wonderfully with people to play off. Take Theo, Ramsey, Wilshere away and you lose a lot of the support he needs driving forward. If I thought Rosicky could regularly put in 90 minutes at his best level, then it would be less of an issue. The Podolski – Cazorla- Özil combo could do it, but it was about the first time they’d played together like that.… Read more »
Yeah analysis Mr. White!
Analysis Bitch!
I understand we could definitely upgrade our striking position with a new player, but Giroud is not “plain terrible for this level.” And if you didn’t see hunger from Giroud, you may want to change your eyeglasses. He played hard. He just wasn’t good enough to make any game changing impact.
I get what you are trying to say, but Giroud IS a whiny, punch myself while I should be getting back onside, get kicked and look straight to the ref and pray he blows his whistle, slam a shot straight into a defender, type of striker. He would be THE perfect back-up, give the main striker a rest, type though. We all love Giroud, but let’s face it – if Arsenal wants to be as dominating as Bayern, they have to get a world-class striker. On a separate note – Ozil looks to be missing his high-powered offense in real… Read more »
someone use a breaking bad reference for this guy
Although your opinion seems plain ridiculous to me, I still thought that he was a a bit off today compared to his own standards. I mean, he worked hard today, but it was not the usually monstrous work rate he shows upfront, almost as if he was a bit tired to start with, although I can’t imagine why, since he has been getting rest lately with sanogo sharing the workload. Is it just me ?
Stick to meth.
Good game, fought hard, nothing discouraging and now a good rest before we thump Tottenham
Podolski.. Now that’s the kind of performance that earns you 90mins on the pitch.. Proud of the boys
1. For all of the money that Ribery presumably has, can he not fix his face and his abnormally large front tooth?
2. The only thing that would’ve been better than Poldi’s goal- Robben being in goal and the ball hitting his head out of the orbit.
3. Mesut Ozil, having two decent games in a row never killed anyone, I don’t think.
4. Robben- you deserve to have your legs cut off.
If Diving Old Man Cunt and Filthy Gargoyle Looking Cunt get divorced, are they still brother and sister?
Yes, those are two princesses separated at birth and currently united for the time being.
You can’t divorce family. Let’s just hope they are sterile and spare the world the Old Man Filthy Gargoyle Looking Cunt Child.
Hey hey, let’s not insult here. Never compare Ribery to my kind, NEVER!
i like the way you tried to hide the dig at özil
I’ll take #3 back, as it appears he was playing hurt.
Proud of the boys tonight.
I didn’t think Robben could get any higher on the Cunt-o-meter. However..
Here here. Proud to be a gooner tonight. No shame in going out 3-1 to Bayern especially considering the circumstances after the first leg. Would have been great to finish top of the group but hopefully that result and the one at the weekend will help us kick on in the league and fuck up the spuds and both of the oil rich scum sucking cuntwad clubs.
Is it just me, or does Robben look like a bald John Terry?
I hate that diving cunt
Muller is a cunt as well
He really fucking is, the arrogance in how he tried to take that pen. Cunt got what was coming to him tho, he won’t be trying that again.
what a save by fabianski !!!
Loved that save from Fabianksi! Best highlight of the game, perhaps rivalled by Ox’s run in the first half.
Oh, and Mertesacker’s excellent reading of the game that lead to his epic fist pump
And Poldi fist pumping his BRO the Ox on his way out. The german knew his bro had played well.
we seriously got to renew his contract..
Seriously – Fab has to be the best Number 2 keeper in the world !!!
Iker Casillas.
In the big games we either play to Giroud’s strengths or we should leave him on the bench… One of the reasons i questioned Wenger signing a big front man in the first place is that the only player in our squad who can really whip in a cross is Sagna.
Uh… Podolski, Jenkinson. Gibbs has been known to put in some decent crosses.
Proud of the lads today. They went out and gave 100% and you really can’t ask more than that. Absolutely world class performance against the best in Europe and although we may have gone out, we went out with dignity and style. If anything there’s a lot of positives we can take from this game. Now let’s concentrate on winning the league and FA Cup. COYG!
can’t get away with a red card against the best. valiant effort nonetheless,We can probably make up for it with a *double*(believe)
Hopefully ozil and ox are ready the cunts down the road on sunday.
Very respectable performance by the Gunners. We can return to the PL and FA Cup with confidence.
Robben was a disgrace and an embarrassment to Munich. Glad that penalty did not go in as it would have an injustice of the highest order.
Boys did well, nothing to be ashamed of great attitude right till the end. Great save fabianski. Robbed what a cunt
We played ok! ox was brilliant but Ozils penalty still fucked us.
Maybe we have a problem with teams that start with B, luckily we’re not playing Bigan in the facup 😉
…Bayern, Blackburn, Bradford, Barcelona, Birmingham, Borussia Dortmund
Holy crap!
haha Bigan, but yeah we would be soooo fucked.
This team always fills you with pride on these sort of nights. Podolski unbelievable in the 2nd half.
Great to hear the fans sing proudly right until the final whistle!
I was more encouraged by Podolski tonight than for a while. He put in a shift, and scored the goal (which let’s face it is what he does when he’s on the pitch). Shows he can do it.
Honestly!
Fuck Bayern. They really are just a collection of cunts. They manipulate the game in a disgusting way. Diving to their advantage, commiting niggly little cunt fouls to their advantage. Make no mistake, for all their ability and technical prowess they are an ugly ugly footballing side. Credit to our lads for working so hard to show them they aren’t the best thing since sliced bread.
We played a great fuckin 2nd leg. First leg we got fucked over by a missed penalty and a bullshit red.
I’ll take that against ‘the best team in the world’.
I’m gonna go with the obligatory Robben is a cunt.
“obligatory Robben is a cunt” He managed to out-cunt John Terry.
Woahh Woahh, lets not suggest such things just yet, Terry has 90 minutes to keep the King of Cunts crown this month.
Robben = cunt
Just imagine a team where Mourinho is manager, with Terry and Robbin in it – oh yes that happened. C***ski !!!
Diving cheating cunts. If thats the best team in world football then I fear for the sport. On the other hand unlucky boys. Great effort. Squad exposed with all the injuries. On to spurs
Funny thing was the wankers at ITV were salivating over the wonderful Bayern squad, and how Arsenal just didn’t have that kind of power in depth. At the same time, the only positive (apparently) for Arsenal was the OX, a guy playing in a position where he is third choice (up until now). Add to that Vermaelen only playing because we’ve run out of proper full backs, and our number 2 keeper saved their penalty. We have so many injuries that we struggled to fill the bench, and with that kind of patched up team they still couldn’t beat us… Read more »
Is alex oxlade chamberlain a quality footballer ? Yes. In which positions ? Left wing, right wing, cam and cdm. Did arsenal put in a less then embrassing performance? Yes.
Robben…. yet another Dutch skunk.
Kudos to the boys, good enough result, can’t complain given the circumstances.
treble dream is off……
I’ll just settle for the double now
can’t ask for more than that. I’m sure much more illustrius names than us will be completely outplayed at the Allianz this season. Ox was superb, Metersacker was brilliant and Vermaelen and Sagna coped well with two of the best wingers being backed up by two of the best full backs in the world attacking constantly. Overall, we can leave with our heads held high, but next time let’s just beat Napoli
And what a great goal from Podolski !!!
All in all I’m fairly happy with the result. Impressed by Poldi’s 2nd half, he was a beast. If we play this well against Spurs on Sunday, we will flatten them.
Flatten? haha we will bulldoze over Shite Hart Lane, and fill the resulting demolition ground with statues of our greats!
HAHA GERMAN FLOP MISSED A PENALTY
Robben needs to be punished by the officials. Really? Such a disgrace. All the players are diving in this team, is this what Pep G teaches all his teams? Wow, such a disgraceful player this Robben. I hate this cunt as much Van Cunt now. COYG boys great game in the second half. Ozil needs to have some desire, needs to take some lessons from Rozza. Probably the position in the wings is not the best for him. He will be better in the no.10 role. COYG! FA for us!
Tough result, but how many teams can say they’ve played Bayern Munich four times in two years, and are 1-2-1, while only getting outscored 6-4 and being unbeaten at the Allianz Arena. With some luck and some reasonable refereeing decisions, things could have been different. But remember everyone, Arsenal can’t do it against the big sides!
That’s right. But I wonder if Arsene got the team right. Ozil should be in the middle, with runners to left and right. That is when he is at his most dangerous. When I heard Ox was in the team, I assumed the front four would be BHF, Ox, Ozil, Podolski. I also thought we would start Arteta and Flamini. Instead, Ozil is on the wing, and Cazorla is paired with Podolski. Is this how you bring the best out of Ozil? Ox was great, but he would have been great on the right too, and he was part of… Read more »
That just misses the whole point about of how Arsenal play. Picking a position and saying: ‘you play here’ is not how the team works. The 4 supporting Giroud are all capable of swapping and rotating through a game.
It doesn’t reduce to something simple like 4-3-3 or put ‘Cazorla on the right’
Proud of the team tonight. Now we can focus on winning the two titles that are left! Right!
So 11 v 11 we go through on away goals. Can’t be too disappointed, still lots to play for this season. Hopefully we can win our Champions League group next year. COYG
My expectation of Ox is extremely high but I think he will be even better than that. The guy play like a player in the form of is life and he is still young.
Loved arsene reaction at penalty
Robben’s a diving, cheating bastard. That is all.
All fairness to Bayern and their skill and hustle, and trust me when I say I rarely complain about officiating, but the entire tie was absolutely a sham in terms of officiating. How does Robben not get booked for that first half dive? And how does he win two fouls, including a penalty, by diving after that, when the ref (and everyone on the planet) knows how often he dives? If he is never penalized for his actions he will continue to make a mockery of the greatest game on the planet. Had we not gone down to 10 men… Read more »
I’ve always felt that maybe UEFA earmark certain teams that they want in the latter stages. There were a lot of decisions lasts season against Bayern and previous years against Barca that went for them.
The player should be proud. I hope soon will get to play a knockout round with a full squad and no red cards.
Onwards to beat Spurs and pick up the FA Cup.
I would love to go back to a striker with pace.
Who instead of getting beaten to the ball by the defender, can actually get infront of the defender and stretch them.
It’s a tool we really need, Chelsea with Drogba was the expert at absorbing pressure from these dominant teams then dealing a killing blow, a big game played. Giroud just can’t do that.
I miss Henry…
We miss Theo more than is generally acknowledged.
^Agreed. With our injuries at the moment, a draw away at the Allianz is no small feat. Walcott, Ramsey, Wilshere, Gibbs, Monreal… Id love to see us go on a run without any injuries, our options are very underrated (especially by pundits) at times.
Even if we didn’t play well enough to win the fact is it was always going to be difficult. Too many times now when an english team is playing in the CL the ref favours the other one, it’s so bloody obvious it’s getting embarassing. What also makes me cringe is that a team as good as Bayern have to cheat time and again. One of the worst teams I have ever seen for diving and Arjen Robben, you are everything that is wrong with football. A diving, cheating piece of shit and you sir should be ashamed of yourself!
“John Terry is a cunt” may need to turn into “John Terry is a cunt, but Arjen Robben is the cunt to end all cunts”
The Ox is gonna rip the spuds a new one…
Brave effort today. Anyone coming here to bash Ozil can piss off!
whether you guys like it or not guardiola outwitted wenger
we could not string 4-5 passes together to make a chance
Not to say we never created a single clear chance
On to the nxt one
We drew against arguably the best team in the world at their home. Guardiola did a fine job but I don’t see how he outwitted Wenger.
Robben. You are still on my list.
Special mention to Fab tonight. Good performance.
In the big games we either play to Giroud’s strengths or we should leave him on the bench… One of the reasons i questioned Wenger signing a big front man in the first place is that the only player in our squad who can really whip in a cross is Sagna.
Fuck that fucking ref, fuck that cheating fucking club. I respect and like Dortmund but Bayern are the biggest cunts, along with Barca, in europe. (outside England)
Good result and a good game against the cheating scum. Good gameplan from Wenger. Defence first in the first half and then put pressure on them in the second.
Without the most stupid rule in the world and with Walcott we would have won. No doubt at all.
Ox poldi and fabianski were pure class. Fuck robben.
Not this time Muller, no goal for you.
Fabtastic save from a Fabtastic goalkeeper.
Robben really is a truly despicable human being. How anyone could support him or wish him well is beyond me. He surpasses even Rooney or Terry in his ability to be a hateful bastard.
Terrible refereeing combined with a tendency to just sit back and wait for our moment made for a miserable first half, but they weren’t all that great either. However, I choose to put that aside and remember how we pressed them and at times passed the ball like the greatest team ever (which we are). They turned to cheap fouls and diving while we kept our dignity and played our game without a shred of regret or doubt. Tonight we were the better team, Bayern can just fuck off. There wasn’t a man or woman (not Arsenal fans) in the… Read more »
Robben the Diver still unbeatable in munich.,
Proud of the effort tonight. Ox played out of skin. So much left to play for. And Fabianski – take a bow son!
I thought you were being serious there for a minute. At least now we all know you’re joking. You silly person.