Declan Rice scored a late equaliser to give Arsenal a 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, rescuing a point for last season’s runners-up.
Eberechi Eze had opened the scoring for Arsenal after coming on for the injured Bukayo Saka. Alphonso Davies levelled for Bayern after a sublime pass from Harry Kane, before Kane created and converted a second-half penalty. Rice then drew Arsenal level with eight minutes remaining.
Eze and Davies swap goals before half-time
Bayern were without in-form winger Michael Olise, Germany captain Joshua Kimmich and midfielder Jamal Musiala. Coach Vincent Kompany had been a doubt because of illness but took his place in the dugout.
Arsenal suffered an early blow when Saka, their joint-top scorer this season, went down eight minutes in, clutched his thigh and immediately signalled to the bench. Bayern’s two previous Champions League opponents this term were from Norway, and the Bundesliga champions appeared to struggle with Arsenal’s physicality as Mikel Arteta’s side pushed them back early on.
With 25 minutes played, Martin Odegaard played a simple pass over the Bayern defence for Eze, who controlled it and beat Manuel Neuer. The hosts were caught out by the timing of the run, but VAR overturned a linesman’s offside flag and the goal stood.
Davies equalised ten minutes later. Kane spotted him making a run, threaded the ball through midfield and around Gabriel, and the Canadian winger guided it into the bottom corner. Ezri Konsa was shown a yellow card soon after for taking Kane out of a Bayern counter-attack.
Kane’s penalty and Rice’s late equaliser
After the break, Neuer and David Raya both made outstanding saves. Neuer tipped a Bruno Guimaraes header onto the crossbar, while Raya denied Dayot Upamecano. Both sides pushed forward, but Kane again proved decisive.
Kane’s shot from the edge of the penalty area struck Jurrien Timber’s arm. The referee immediately pointed to the spot, and Kane stepped up and converted the kick to give Bayern the lead.
Bayern looked to be in control, but the match turned again when substitute Viktor Gyokeres played a clever pass to Rice. He slammed the ball in to bring Arsenal level.
Kane’s scoring streak and Arsenal’s dropped points
Kane’s second-half penalty was his 16th goal in 23 matches against Arsenal. It also extended his scoring run to 10 straight Champions League games, one short of the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored in 11 consecutive matches for Real Madrid.
The draw was only the second time Arsenal had dropped points in 12 games in all competitions this season. Despite the absences in the Bayern side, Kane was a constant threat against Arsenal’s defence, another strong display ahead of next week’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in London.
Kane told a broadcaster after the match that he was a little disappointed with the result. “But probably when you look at the whole 90 minutes, a draw was probably a fair result,” he said.
