It ceased to be a fair fight at 8.22pm, when Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli brandished a red card in the direction of Szczesny for his rash and ill-judged challenge on Arjen Robben. Until then, both combatants had attacked one another for 37 pulsating minutes in an even contest played with vigour and verve; but like a boxing match stopped due to a cut, we will be left to imagine what might have been.
Many wondered aloud whether Arsene Wenger might elect to sit back against a team of the calibre of Bayern.
Instead he did the opposite.
He sent Arsenal out to to press high up the pitch and for ten promise-laden minutes Oxlade Chamberlain bulldozed his way around the pitch, while Wilshere imposed a sense of purpose on proceedings, dominating his illustrious midfield opponents. Sagna surged forward and Cazorla looked busy and threatening. Unfortunately this state of affairs would not continue for long, though it may have been prolonged had Ozil demonstrated even an ounce of self-belief from twelve yards out.
The seismic moment in the tie was Szczesny’s sending off and we can argue all day about goalscoring opportunities (it wasn’t). However, the Pole was reckless and dangerous and anywhere else on the pitch his tackle merits a red card. With Robben’s standing leg planted, he is fortunate not to be in plaster, and in truth Arsenal fans can have no complaints with the decision.
But neither can they have cause to bemoan their team’s performance.
It seems to this observer that Laurent Koscielny is the embodiment of everything that is good about the club at the moment. He displayed character in abundance along with several others, most notably Mertesacker and Sanogo, when down to ten men for nearly an hour.
Unfortunately the inventive football brains of Cazorla, Wilshere and Ozil were rendered redundant by the numerical disadvantage, though the ex-Real Madrid man was underwhelming in almost every aspect of his game.
As the second half began, a tender, but growing optimism about what Arsenal might achieve with their backs to the wall was destroyed by one of the lowest paid players in a Bayern jersey, Toni Kroos, who despatched a strike laced with venom for the first goal.
The brilliant midfielder had long since become the most influential player on display, intelligently using the width of the pitch to stretch the under resourced Arsenal rear guard.
And so back to Robben.
Some of the Dutchman’s on field mannerisms are pretty unpalatable but he is unquestionably a footballer of uncommon gifts. He distinguished himself once again in both senses at the Emirates, with a threatening and lively performance on the right flank, though Gibbs looked up to the task of containing him before injury forced his removal. For all his skill however, his theatrics and histrionics are tiresome and there were also strong suggestions he aimed a revolting mouthful of saliva in the direction of Bacary Sagna, though TV pictures are inconclusive.
Muller’s late second goal arrived with deadly consequences for Arsenals Champions League qualification hopes, as he ran off the shoulder of Mathieu Flamini to head beyond Fabianski. It’s hard to be critical of the Frenchman however, who you might reasonably suspect was on the cusp of exhaustion given his efforts on the night.
0-2 is difficult to take for Arsenal. For ten minutes they threatened to overrun Bayern Munich, and that is a sentence you won’t read again this season. Ozil’s woeful penalty and Szczseny’s rash intervention altered the course of the game and while several Arsenal men distinguished themselves thereafter, the night belonged to Toni Kroos.
It will take a monumental performance for Arsenal to qualify now but last year’s 2-0 victory in Munich provides feint hope. It could have been so very different and a certain German playmaker may be staring at the ceiling into the early hours tomorrow, but football always offers second chances.
Mesut Ozil can only hope his redemption arrives on March 11th , at the Allianz Arena.
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