Arsenal revived their Champions League hopes in thrilling fashion with a crucial victory over Bayern Munich at Emirates Stadium.<\/p>\n
The Gunners’ hopes of reaching the knockout phase were in serious jeopardy after they lost their opening two games away to Dinamo Zagreb and at home to Olympiakos.<\/p>\n
Arsene Wenger’s side responded by beating Pep Guardiola’s Bayern – clear favourites to win Group F – and make a nonsense of those dismal earlier performances.<\/p>\n
Bayern dominated possession but Arsenal dug out the win that keeps their hopes alive when substitute Olivier Giroud bundled home from close range in the 77th minute after goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made a rare error as he missed Santi Cazorla’s free-kick.<\/p>\n
The win was secured in the dying seconds when Mesut Ozil turned in Hector Bellerin’s cross, Neuer clawing the ball out only for the officials to adjudge it had crossed the line.<\/p>\n
Arsenal were indebted to keeper Petr Cech, restored after replacement David Ospina’s mistake in the defeat by Olympiakos, saving superbly from Thiago Alcantara and Arturo Vidal.<\/p>\n
Neuer also excelled before his mistake, particularly with a sensational save from Theo Walcott’s first-half header.<\/p>\n
The different faces of Manuel Neuer<\/strong><\/p>\n \nNeuer is widely regarded as the world’s best – but it was a mixed night for Germany’s World Cup winner.<\/p>\n He produced a save only the greats can contemplate when clawing out Walcott’s close-range header when a goal seemed certain.<\/p>\n Could Walcott’s header have been directed better? Did he give Neuer just that slight chance of making a save that the best will always take advantage of?<\/p>\n Yes, but it was still a monument to reflexes, agility and technique as Neuer left Walcott dumbfounded, as well as Aaron Ramsey, who had already turned to celebrate.<\/p>\n Neuer, however, proved he was fallible as Arsenal took the lead, making an ungainly dash from goal and flapping hopelessly at Cazorla’s free-kick to allow Giroud to scramble home with a hint of handball.<\/p>\n It happens to the best – and it may just have saved Arsenal’s Champions League campaign.<\/p>\n Cech proves a point<\/strong><\/p>\n \nArsenal manager Arsene Wenger was uncharacteristically touchy when it was suggested he made a mistake in preferring David Ospina to first choice Petr Cech in their previous Champions League game at home to Olympiakos.<\/p>\n It backfired as Ospina dropped a simple catch from a corner into his own net in the damaging 3-2 defeat.<\/p>\n Wenger was defiant in the face of claims he had made a serious error but the case against him only got stronger with 33-year-old Cech’s return and performance against Bayern Munich.<\/p>\n Cech was in the action quickly with a superb reflex save from Thiago and also showed his enduring athleticism to save from Vidal.<\/p>\n This is not to suggest Ospina is a poor keeper – the Colombian is not – but when you have a keeper of Cech’s quality at your disposal it is folly to leave him out of a game you cannot afford to lose.<\/p>\n Wenger did make a mistake when he dropped Cech. This game proved it.<\/p>\n The great Arsenal mystery <\/strong><\/p>\n Arsenal’s Champions League aspirations were wrecked last season by a performance of naivety and defensive incompetence in equal measure against Monaco in February when they lost 3-1 at home as they went out in the last 16.<\/p>\n The performance in defeat against Olympiakos was not far behind and left Arsenal fans infuriated.<\/p>\n Before that fixture, Wenger had said Arsenal “must win” all their home games but, after twice falling behind, they threw away the chance of a point when they conceded what proved the winner almost immediately after Alexis Sanchez’s equalizer.<\/p>\n How can a team that play so poorly against those opponents acquit themselves so well against Bayern Munich, accepted as a member of European football’s royalty under the guidance of one of the game’s great coaches in Pep Guardiola?<\/p>\n Guardiola is used to enjoying possession without victory at Emirates. When Barcelona lost a two-goal lead to draw here in April 2010, Arsenal only had 38% of possession – in the first half here Bayern enjoyed a 74.5% share.<\/p>\n And yet, once more, Arsenal dug in. They were defensively resilient, dogged in midfield and, even though the two goals were scrambled, they may well prove to be priceless.<\/p>\n The Gunners remain bottom of the table, but are level on three points with Dinamo Zagreb and three behind both Olympiakos and Bayern Munich.<\/p>\n Wenger’s side face Bayern at the Allianz Arena on 4 November, before hosting Dinamo later that month.<\/p>\n They finish their group stage campaign at Olympiakos on 9 December.<\/p>\n The top two in each group progress to the knockout stage, with the team finishing third going into the Europa League. Arsenal revived their Champions League hopes in thrilling fashion with a crucial victory over Bayern Munich at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners’ hopes of reaching the knockout phase were in serious jeopardy after they lost their opening two games away to Dinamo Zagreb and at home to Olympiakos. Arsene Wenger’s side responded by beating Pep Guardiola’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":161161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[3,38],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nBy: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"