Arsenal’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League were left hanging after they battled out a stalemate with Bayern Munich in the first leg of the quarterfinals at Emirates Stadium. Harry Kane, however, left north London with a goal.
Kane, Tottenham’s record goalscorer, received a predictably hostile reception from Arsenal’s supporters, who saw the Gunners make the perfect start when Bukayo Saka’s low finish put them ahead after only 12 minutes.
Bayern belied their poor form in the Bundesliga to turn the game around before the break as former Arsenal forward Serge Gnabry swept home the equaliser six minutes later.
Kane’s moment arrived when William Saliba tripped Leroy Sane at the end of a blistering run after 32 minutes. The England captain stepped forward for the resulting penalty and silenced the taunts with his 15th goal in 20 appearances against Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s side were not at their fluent best but substitute Leandro Trossard was the beneficiary of outstanding work by Gabriel Jesus to equalise.
Arsenal felt they should have had a penalty in the final seconds of stoppage time but the referee waved away their appeals when Saka went down as he was challenged by keeper Manuel Neuer.
The second leg in Munich is on Wednesday, 17 April.
Arsenal still have hope
Arsenal left the pitch amid a mood of disappointment and frustration after a performance that was unusually tentative.
The Gunners’ late equaliser from Trossard, who has scored six goals as a substitute this season, sets the second leg up perfectly, although Bayern will feel they are favourites at the Allianz Arena.
It rescued a respectable result from a display that lacked Arsenal’s usual fluency and defensive assurance, Gnabry’s equaliser an uncharacteristically sloppy concession starting with a mistake by Gabriel.
At the end, Arsenal were complaining bitterly that referee Glenn Nyberg should have awarded a last-gasp penalty when Saka went down but it looked like the Gunners’ forward initiated the contact with Neuer.
Whether it was big-stage nerves or not, Arsenal fell short of the standards that have taken them to the top of the Premier League.
This, in itself, will give Arsenal and manager Arteta hope for the second leg because they can perform so much better than they did here.
Bayern show their steel
Kane has scored more Premier League goals against Arsenal (14) than anybody else
Bayern Munich are locked in a season of desperate struggle on the home front, with their long-held Bundesliga domination about to be ended by Bayer Leverkusen and coach Thomas Tuchel leaving the club at the end of the campaign.
Old habits die hard, however, and the club with such a rich Champions League pedigree showed that they are always a force to be reckoned with in this competition.
Kane, inevitably, got on the scoresheet and played some glorious passes, although he was fortunate to escape stronger punishment than just a yellow card after Arsenal defender Gabriel was floored with an elbow in the second half.
Bayern, for all their poor form, still possess vast experience and the pace of Sane, Gnabry and Alphonso Davies, allied to Kane’s all-round brilliance, still makes them a stern proposition when they get it right.
They will be disappointed to concede a late equaliser but they would surely have settled for this result before kick-off.