Arsenal F.C of London kept their hope of qualifying for the knock-out stages of the European Champions league alive by beatin...
Arsenal F.C of London kept their hope of qualifying for the knock-out
stages of the European Champions league alive
by beating in-form group F table-toppers, Bayern Munich 2-0 in a pulsating
encounter at the Emirates.
Before the match, you’d have to be a die-hard Arsenal fan or
a sarcastic, over-optimistic, defender-of-the-underdog football pundit, to give Arsenal a chance
against the ravaging Germans. This is because Bayern has won all the games they’ve
played so far this season,
including a 5-1 pounding of Dinamo Zagreb
and a 2-1 win over Olympiacos; with their in-form striker, Robert Lewandowski scoring in
his last five games for club and country. Arsenal. on the other hand, has been having a 'start-stop'
season with losses to Olympiacos and Dinamo Zagreb in their first two UCL group games
leaving them in 4th position with no points in the group.
As expected, Bayern Munich was stellar; controlling 70% of
the ball possession and relegating Arsenal to defend for most of the game, limiting the usually boisterous Gunners to counter-attacks. But, in the end, Arsene Wenger’s tactical prowess proved
superior to Pep Guardiola’s. A 77th minute crawling header from super-sub,
Olivier Giroud after Neuer mis-cued a santi cazorla free kick and a 93rd
minute tap-in from Mesut Ozil (from a blistering Hector Bellerin cross) sealed the victory for
the Gunners.
The goal keepers, Petr Cech of Arsenal and Manuel Neuer of Bayern, proved why they are rated as world-class goalkeepers as they
stopped goalscoring chance upon chance. Petr Cech of Arsenal saved clear-cut chances from
Douglas costa, Thomas Mueller and the red-hot Robert Lewandowski while his opposite
number, Neuer, saved strikes from Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez and even got a hand to
Ozil’s goal before the fourth official ruled that it had crossed the
line.
This victory is Arsenal’s first win in this
season’s champions league and a return fixture is scheduled for Munich in a
fort-night. Arsenal remains 3rd in the group with 3 points after Olympiacos beat Zagreb by a lone strike in Croatia.
