Declan Rice struck with eight minutes left to earn Arsenal a 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The late goal denied the German champions victory and kept the visitors two points clear of them in the league phase.
Arsenal now have seven points from three matches. Bayern have five. The result marked only the second time Mikel Arteta’s side had dropped points in 12 matches across all competitions this season.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany had been a doubt because of illness but took his place in the dugout.
His squad was missing in-form winger Michael Olise, Germany captain Joshua Kimmich and midfielder Jamal Musiala.
Saka Injury Forces Early Change
Arsenal suffered an early setback when Bukayo Saka went down in the eighth minute. The winger clutched his thigh and immediately signalled to the bench, forcing his substitution.
Eberechi Eze replaced him and made an instant impact. Just before the half-hour mark, Martin Odegaard floated a pass across Bayern’s defence into Eze’s path.
He timed his run perfectly and slotted the ball past Manuel Neuer.
Bayern were caught out by the forward’s movement. Their frustration deepened when VAR overturned the assistant referee’s offside call to award the goal.
Much of the pre-match attention had focused on Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or prospects. The England captain showed his influence 10 minutes later by creating Bayern’s equaliser.
Kane spotted Alphonso Davies bursting forward and threaded a superb pass through midfield and around Gabriel. The Canadian winger guided the ball into the bottom corner.
Kane Continues Record Chase
After the break, both goalkeepers produced outstanding saves. Neuer tipped Bruno Guimaraes’s header onto the crossbar, while David Raya denied Dayot Upamecano at the other end.
Kane then put Bayern ahead from the penalty spot. His effort from the edge of the area struck Jurrien Timber’s arm, and the referee pointed to the spot. Kane converted confidently.
The goal was his 16th in 23 appearances against Arsenal. It also extended his scoring streak to 10 consecutive Champions League matches, one short of Cristiano Ronaldo's record of 11 for Real Madrid.
“I had an amazing season last year, I’m extremely proud of it,” Kane told another news media, DAZN.
“The Ballon d’Or would be amazing to win, but there’s nothing I can do, the voting closed a long time ago, I have to wait for the night and see what happens.”
Late Drama at the Allianz Arena
Bayern appeared set to secure the win. However, Arsenal struck back late on when substitute Viktor Gyokeres threaded a clever pass into Rice’s path, and the midfielder fired home.
Kane admitted the result felt fair. “We looked dangerous, we got the goal and we had a moment there where we could have killed off the game,” he told DAZN.
“Probably a draw was a fair result overall. There’s a lot of games and we’ve got players with injuries, players missing tonight, so we take the point and move on.”
Arsenal forward Kai Havertz praised both teams.
“I think it was a top-notch game for both sides,” he said. “We can be proud of our performance, especially since it’s anything but easy to hold your own here. Bayern is one of the best teams in Europe.”
