Gunners turn the tide by toppling Bayern
Oh, they drive you mad sometimes, Arsenal. had they played like this in their first two games of the Champions League campaign, they would be halfway home by now. Instead, well, they’re still in there fighting.
This victory ended the winning streak of the form side in Europe, but Arsenal are still joint bottom of the group with Bayern away up next. They’re not making it easy for themselves — although the scoreline suggested otherwise.
They were passed into oblivion at times, too, but that was to be expected. This is what Pep Guardiola’s sides do and when, with 15 minutes remaining, the outstanding Douglas Costa played in Robert Lewandowski at last — he had been relatively quiet until that point — defeat seemed inevitable.
Yet there was Petr Cech, equal to it, and the striker who came here on a run of 15 goals in his last seven games went away unfulfilled. Moments later, Arsenal went ahead.
It was another triumph for Michel Platini’s legion of the useless, stationed behind the goal in the perfect position to miss calls of note, and an aberration of stunning proportions by Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Earlier in the night, he pulled off what many consider the save of the season so far, but for Arsenal’s goal he may as well have come out with his eyes closed. Not that he was solely at fault.
The ball looked to be diverted in by the arms of Olivier Giroud but the Turkish assistants decided to see no evil and hear only the noisy celebrations of the home crowd. Pragmatically, they kept schtum.
Arsenal’s second was easier to give. Mesut Ozil’s shot looked to have been kept out by Neuer but it was ruled to have gone over and replays showed it had, by some distance. It was the last kick of the match, the celebrations a fitting end to the night.
Yet that first goal? What was going on? It was a fairly routine gather for Neuer, too. Santi Cazorla pumped a free-kick down the middle, meat and drink to Premier League goalkeepers.
Yet for some reason Neuer was bothered. he flapped about, waving his arms, was distracted by a jumping opponent and missed the ball completely with Giroud diving in behind him.
he got some facial contact first, unsighted, but the last touch seemed to be off his arms. Accidental, definitely, but surely a free-kick if spotted. No matter. Giroud sprinted away and didn’t look back, his last four goals coming as a substitute.
No protest from Neuer either. he didn’t know where Giroud or the ball were, a remarkable error considering his heroics in the first half.
It was the save heard around the world. In the seconds after Neuer kept out Theo Walcott in the 34th minute, social networks were alight as football’s great and good rose as one in acclaim.
Fellow goalkeepers Pepe Reina and Kasper Schmeichel, German team-mates Andre Schurrle and Mario Goetze, ex-players Gary Lineker, John hartson and Didi hamann, Stoke striker Peter Crouch, Manchester United defender Luke Shaw. Some thought it the save of the season, some had never seen its like. All were convinced it was the work of the best in the world right now.
There was an echo of Gordon Banks from 1970 in the way Neuer thwarted Arsenal. he celebrated with a simple fist punch once the danger had passed. he better deserved a lone lap of honour.
It was Nacho Monreal’s cross from the left that should have established Arsenal’s lead. It eluded Bayern’s back line and fell to Walcott, perfectly sited in front of goal.
Now we can argue that he should have done better, that the striker might have directed the ball to an area where even Superman could not have retrieved it.
Yet the fact remains most goalkeepers would have been beaten by Walcott’s attempt.
The header was powerful, low-ish, and directed to Neuer’s left. Yet somehow Munich’s man stretched out a giant paw and
pulled it back. His agility was magnificent, the power in his hands immense, the pure determination unmatched.
The best goalkeepers, we are told, hate being beaten even in training. Neuer was a step further. He refused to be beaten, even when all evidence pointed to precisely that outcome.
Too often, though, he was not needed. Arsenal were wasteful in front of goal, a potentially fatal weakness against a team as accomplished as Munich.
But in the end they thwarted Neuer and Munich to collect three precious group points.