Bayern Left Bruised By Arteta's Men

With Tottenham Hotspur dispatched on Sunday, attention turned to the Champions League. Bayern Munich were in town and ready to derail our European campaign. The German giants have had an almost perfect season, having won every single game, except from a draw against Union Berlin at the start of November. While on this enormous stretch of unbeaten games, they've scored 55 goals in the Bundesliga and Champions League combined, while only conceding 11. No opposition will arrive on our doorstep in better form than that. Mikel Arteta and his men had their work cut out, a win would give us maximum points after five games and Arteta knows how important that is in the grand scheme of things.

The first half saw Arsenal adopt an approach that isn't regularly seen under Arteta. Bayern were allowed to dominate possession while Arsenal picked their moments to get forward. This resulted in quite a cagey opening 20 minutes, with neither side really creating much of note. However, on the stroke of the 22nd minute, Jurrien Timber nodded in Arsenal's opener. Bukayo Saka whipped in a wicked corner which Timber was able to guide home before Manuel Neuer could even reach the ball. Even without Gabriel, Arsenal were still proving to be a threat from corners. After the goal, Bayern seemed uncharacteristically nervous and kept making mistakes. Arsenal tried to capitalise on those shaky moments, but couldn't quite carve out the right opportunity. Eberechi Eze came the closest to adding a second, but his effort trickled wide of the post in a bit of a miscue of a shot. Some suggest that his intention was to slide Saka in, but it can be argued either way. It seemed as though Arsenal were just starting to turn the dial up, but Bayern grabbed their equaliser in the 32nd minute. A strafing pass from Joshua Kimmich picked out the run of Serge Gnabry who knocked the ball across goal, into Lennart Karl's path and he smashed it beyond David Raya. Arsenal were almost opened up again, but Josip Stanisic opted for the wrong option and drilled a shot wide of the post from a very promising position. One of those situations that if he picked his head up and spotted his colleagues in better positions, it could've been 2-1 Bayern. That was the last real action of note in the first half.

The second half presented an opportunity for Arsenal who had a few game-changers on the bench. Noni Madueke had already replaced Leandro Trossard in the first half due to an injury, but Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard remained as options. The second half was completely different to the first, Arsenal were constantly on the front foot and pinned Bayern into their half. Chances were flowing and it was becoming increasingly concerning that these big chances were getting missed. Mikel Merino came close, Saka, Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera all had their attempts saved or blocked. No matter what Arsenal tried, the ball wasn't going in the net. However, on the 69th minute, Madueke volleyed home Arsenal's 2nd. The North London side worked a crossing opportunity on the left flank which resulted in Riccardo Calafiori whipping a devilish ball across the box. Madueke beat his marker to the ball and managed to get enough contact on the ball to put it in the net. The Munich side tried to regain control of the match, but Arsenal were quick to extinguish any fire within their opponents. The game state was comfortable for Arsenal, but they clearly saw an opportunity for a third and they grabbed it with both hands. Eze noticed the run of Martinelli behind the Bayern defence and was able to dispatch an inch perfect pass into his path. Neuer had committed to trying to beat our Brazilian to the ball, but he was far too quick for him, managing to knock it around the German and slide the ball home for the 3rd. Bayern never really recovered from that, even if they had a couple of blocked attempts.

The statistics prove how dominant Arsenal were. The Gunners had 13 shots in total, with 8 on target. This generated an xG of 3.11 with 7 big chances created. Bayern, on the other hand, had 8 shots with only 2 on target. They generated an xG of 0.62 and only one big chance created. What's interesting is that Bayern had a 60% share of the possession to Arsenal's 40%, clearly it was a case of quality over quantity when in possession.

Player Ratings -

Raya - 8 - The main focus of his performance was his distribution. He couldn't really do much about the goal as it was smashed home from close range. As I say, his distribution was almost perfect. Great balance between going long and short, it seems like he makes the right decision every time.

Timber - 8 - He was so good again that I don't think I can remember Bayern even bothering to attack down his flank. Serge Gnabry and Michael Olise both had to use the right wing to try and open up Arsenal.

Saliba - 7 - A dominating performance, but went about it quietly. Harry Kane was getting very little joy up against him and that's credit to the French international.

Mosquera - 8 - He slotted in perfectly in the absence of Gabriel, not giving the opposition an inch. A colossus at the back, alongside Saliba.

Lewis-Skelly - 6 - The young Englishman struggled against the power of Olise. We weren't able to see much of his great attacking work as he was pegged back by the Bayern attack. He was caught out a few times with the long ball over his shoulder, that's how the German sides goal came to fruition.

Zubimendi - 8 - I say this a lot, but the reason why Arsenal can control games is because of Zubimendi. However, the first half was him shutting down passing lanes, which he did extremely well. It prevented Bayern playing between the lines, so they were forced into the long ball.

Rice - 9 (MOTM) - There was a lot of chat about his performance after the game and I'm simply here to echo that. He was superb. That second half was one of the best halves I've seen from a player this season. He single-handedly dragged the team up the pitch on multiple occasions, but stuck to his defensive duties. A perfect performance from our engine in the middle.

Saka - 8 - Always the focal point of our attack and Bayern knew it. They often had two or three men on him. This made it hard for Saka to really express his creative magic, but he still had moments of joy. He grabbed an assist for Timber's goal and was unlucky not to score himself.

Merino - 8 - His post international break performances have been everything we wanted him to be. We know he isn't the quickest or the most skilful, but his determination to constantly press the opponent and cause a nuisance of himself is second to none. He drops deep to pick up the ball and is finding success in doing that. He's knitting our build up play together pretty well.

Trossard - 6 - He was on for long enough to earn a rating, but wasn't really in the game all that much. He had some nice moments, but was kept quiet by Stanisic. Unfortunately he was subbed off with an injury.

Substitutes -

Madueke - 8 - He scored an extremely important goal and that cannot be taken away from him. You can see there's an element of rustiness to his play, but that's expected. He used his speed to wear down the Bayern defence and give them more of a concern when pushing up. Good performance made better with a goal.

Martinelli - 8 - Similar to Madueke in that he scored a goal and that can't be taken away from him, however, he did end up getting subdued and found it hard to consistently create chances. But, having Madueke and Martinelli on the pitch is always a dangerous combination.

Calafiori - 8 - He immediately contributed to our attack with an assist and completely shut down any forage forward from Bayern.

White - N/A -

Odegaard - N/A -

Overall it was an excellent game and it absolutely proved why we deserve to be in those 'best in Europe' shouts. We're at the top of both leagues we're a part of and continue to put in fantastic performances, even if things don't always go our way. We move onto Chelsea at the weekend and that will be another extremely tough fixture. Chelsea are in excellent form and will want to prove that they're title contenders with a win. Here's how I'd line up.

We're still not sure whether Victor Gyokeres or Kai Havertz will be back in time for Chelsea, but even if they are then they may have to remain second half substitutes. Leandro Trossard is also a doubt, so Madueke seems the likeliest to start in his place. Odegaard also seems like maybe a start is a little out of his reach, but we'll certainly see him subbed on. Everyone else picks themselves. I think the biggest battle of the afternoon won't be Rice vs Moises Caicedo, or Marc Cucurella vs Saka, it'll be Enzo Fernandez vs Martin Zubimendi. Enzo is the heartbeat of that team and is proving to be extremely dangerous from an attacking sense. Zubimendi will have to watch him closely and ensure he doesn't get any free space in our box. It'll be a game of details and we may have to tap into our physical superiority to get this one over the line.