Harry Kane scored against Arsenal as usual when he came back to north London, but this time, Bayern Munich couldn’t leave with a victory.
Leandro Trossard’s goal in the second half helped Arsenal draw 2-2 against Bayern in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday. Kane had scored against his former rival once again before that.
Trossard scored in the 76th minute, canceling out Kane’s penalty in the first half and leaving both teams even for the second leg next week.
“It was a tough game. Of course, we are never happy when we don’t win,” said Kane, who now has the most goals in the Champions League this season with seven and has scored 15 times against Arsenal in his career.
Arsenal took the lead in the 12th minute through Bukayo Saka but later, former Arsenal player Serge Gnabry scored for Bayern in the 18th minute. Kane then scored for Bayern from a penalty in the 25th minute.
However, Gabriel Jesus set up Trossard for Arsenal’s equalizer later on. “We started so well. We could have scored two or three goals after taking the lead,” Trossard said. “You can see what kind of quality Bayern Munich have to hurt us.”
The last time these two teams played, Bayern won 10-2 on aggregate after two 5–1 wins in 2017. However, this time, Arsenal is doing well in the Premier League, while Bayern is having a tough season in the Bundesliga.
Kane’s goal gave Bayern a slight advantage for the second leg at home next Wednesday. Bayern almost won, with Kingsley Coman’s shot hitting the post in the 90th minute. Arsenal also had a penalty appeal in stoppage time.
The game went ahead despite a reported threat against Champions League matches this week, and there were no incidents at the Emirates Stadium.
In another quarterfinal, Real Madrid and Manchester City drew 3-3 in Spain. Bayern played without away fans because of a UEFA sanction, so Arsenal filled the stadium with home supporters.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta stated, “In the Champions League, you cannot give anything to the opponent. We have given them two goals today.”
David Raya, who saved two penalties against Porto in the round of 16, provided Kane with plenty of material to analyze before the game.
Kane commented, “It was one of them where I have done a bit of research of his games against Porto. It was nice to see him go early and make it easier for me.”
Even after Trossard’s goal, there was some late action. Saka had an opportunity to get past Neuer in stoppage time but collided with him instead. However, referee Glenn Nyberg didn’t award a penalty, as replays suggested Saka initiated the contact by sticking his leg out.
On the other hand, Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel was angry that his team didn’t get a second penalty for handball when Raya played a short goal kick to Gabriel, who then picked up the ball. Tuchel criticized Nyberg’s explanation, saying, “This is a horrible, horrible explanation.”
