Leandro Trossard‘s second-half equalizer gave Arsenal a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday after Harry Kane had scored against his old rival yet again.
Trossard rolled in a low shot in the 76th minute to make sure Bayern didn’t come away from the Emirates Stadium with another big win after Kane had put the German club ahead from the penalty spot in the first half.
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Premier League leaders Arsenal, playing in their first Champions League quarter-final for 14 years, had gone in front early on with a clinical Bukayo Saka strike.
But Bayern, whose reign as German champions is as good as over as they trail Bayer Leverkusen by 16 points, showed they remain a European force to be reckoned with.
Arsenal were stunned as their former striker Serge Gnabry levelled six minutes later and then Kane rolled home his 39th goal of the season in all competitions after Leroy Sane was fouled in the box.
Two of Arsenal’s substitutes combined for the equalizer as Gabriel Jesus teed up Trossard in the area.
David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
But the home side were left furious at the final whistle after Saka was denied a late penalty having gone down under a challenge from Manuel Neuer to leave the tie hanging in the balance.
The return of Kane to one of his favourite haunts was the big talking point before the game.
And he duly silenced the Arsenal jeers.
“It wasn’t an easy game,” Kane said. “Arsenal are a really good team. They’re top of the Premier League right now so we had to dig deep at times but it’s a good result and hopefully we can make the difference at home.”
Predictably, the forward who scored a record 14 goals for Tottenham in the north London derby, was booed every time he touched the ball although the England captain was hardly involved in the early exchanges.
Bayern, whose disappointing season now rests on trying to win the competition for a seventh time, initially looked comfortable despite having no fans inside the Emirates as punishment for crowd trouble in the previous round.
But they were undone in the 12th minute when Ben White played the ball inside to Saka who had time to pick his spot and curl a low left-footed shot beyond Manuel Neuer.
White should have made it 2-0 soon afterwards but shot straight at Neuer and it proved costly as Arsenal‘s defence, so impregnable in the Premier League of late, went missing.
They carelessly lost possession in the 18th minute and Bayern punished them as Leon Goretzka slipped a perfect pass to Gnabry who clipped a finish past the on-rushing David Raya.
All Arsenal’s poise vanished then as Sane was allowed to run and run before being tripped in the area by William Saliba and referee Glenn Nyberg had the simplest decision to point to the penalty spot.
Up stepped Kane, and despite the whistles no one really expected him to miss as he coolly sent Raya the wrong way.
The 60,000 crowd suddenly went quiet as memories of heavy European defeats by Bayern, notably a 10-2 aggregate defeat in the last 16 in 2017, flooded back and it would have got worse but for a goal-saving tackle by White on Sane.
Bayern, with another former Spurs player Eric Dier impressive in defence, looked comfortable after the break.
Arteta sent on Trossard and Gabriel Jesus just past the midway point of the second half. They combined in the 76th minute as Jesus fed Trossard to slot a low shot inside the post.
A frantic ending saw Bayern substitute Kingsley Coman strike the post from close range while Arsenal were screaming for a penalty with the last action of the game as Saka went down in the area.
“We’ve got a draw so the situation is clear, the winner moves on,” Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel said.
“We need the same devotion, passion and quality as we had tonight — and we’ll get through.”
The game was played despite multiple social media posts from the Al-Azaim Foundation — a media arm of ISIS-K — calling for attacks at stadiums hosting Champions League quarterfinal matches. European football’s governing body, UEFA, said it was aware of the threats, but that the matches would proceed as planned.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.