Kane on target as Arsenal rally to draw with Bayern

Quarter-final 1st leg

Arsenal 2-2 Bayern Munich

Leandro Trossard’s second-half equalizer gave Arsenal a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday after Harry Kane had scored against his old rival yet again.

Trossard rolled in a low shot in the 76th minute to make sure Bayern didn’t come away from the Emirates Stadium with another big win after Kane had put the German club ahead from the penalty spot in the first half.

Premier League leaders Arsenal, playing in their first Champions League quarter-final for 14 years, had gone in front early on with a clinical Bukayo Saka strike.

But Arsenal were stunned as their former striker Serge Gnabry levelled six minutes later and then Kane rolled home his 39th goal of the season in all competitions after Leroy Sane was fouled in the box.

Saka fires Arsenal into the lead.

Two of Arsenal’s substitutes combined for the equalizer as Gabriel Jesus teed up Trossard in the area.

But the home side were left furious at the final whistle after Saka was denied a late penalty having gone down under a challenge from Manuel Neuer to leave the tie hanging in the balance.

The return of Kane to one of his favourite haunts was the big talking point before the game.

Predictably, the forward who scored a record 14 goals for Tottenham in the north London derby, was booed every time he touched the ball although the England captain was hardly involved in the early exchanges.

Bayern, whose disappointing season now rests on trying to win the competition for a seventh time, initially looked comfortable despite having no fans inside the Emirates as punishment for crowd trouble in the previous round.

Kane converts from the spot.

But they were undone in the 12th minute when Ben White played the ball inside to Saka who had time to pick his spot and curl a low left-footed shot beyond Manuel Neuer.

White should have made it 2-0 soon afterwards but shot straight at Neuer and it proved costly as Arsenal’s defence, so impregnable in the Premier League of late, went missing.

They carelessly lost possession in the 18th minute and Bayern punished them as Leon Goretzka slipped a perfect pass to Gnabry who clipped a finish past the on-rushing David Raya.

All Arsenal’s poise vanished then as Sane was allowed to run and run before being tripped in the area by William Saliba and referee Glenn Nyberg had the simplest decision to point to the penalty spot.

Leandro Trossard celebrates after brining Arsenal level.

Up stepped Kane, and despite the whistles no one really expected him to miss as he coolly sent Raya the wrong way.

With the 60,000 crowd suddenly having painful flashbacks of heavy European defeats by Bayern, notably a 10-2 aggregate defeat in 2017, it could have got worse as Sane burst through on goal and was only denied by a superb covering tackle by White.

Bayern displayed their European experience in the second half as they soaked up some Arsenal pressure while looking dangerous on the counter-attack.

With Arsenal struggling to create any meaningful chances Arteta sent on Trossard and Gabriel Jesus just past the midway point of the second half. And it was Trossard who brought the home fans back to life as he guided in a 76th-minute equaliser.

Bayern substitute Kingsley Coman almost won it for the visitors near the end with a close-range flick that hit the post while Arsenal were screaming for a penalty with the last action of the game as Saka went down in the area.


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