Arsenal 2-2 Bayern Munich: Harry Kane scores but Leandro Trossard earns Gunners draw

Harry Kane returned to north London with a goal as Arsenal’s Champions League hopes were left hanging in the balance after they fought out a draw with Bayern Munich in the quarter-final first leg at Emirates Stadium.

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

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.

Player of the match

TrossardLeandro Trossard

Bayern Munich

1. Squad number7Player nameGnabry

2. Squad number9Player nameKane

3. Squad number10Player nameSané

4. Squad number42Player nameMusiala

5. Squad number8Player nameGoretzka

6. Squad number15Player nameDier

7. Squad number4Player namede Ligt

8. Squad number6Player nameKimmich

9. Squad number1Player nameNeuer

10. Squad number19Player nameDavies

11. Squad number27Player nameLaimer

12. Squad number11Player nameComan

13. Squad number22Player nameRaphaël Guerreiro