Thomas Muller helps Bayern Munich defeat Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates, giving them a two-goal advantage for the second leg at the Allianz Arena.

After a disappointing loss to Blackburn in the FA Cup at the weekend, this wasn’t the result that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was hoping for.

It only took seven minutes for Bayern Munich to break the dead-lock, after a shot driven into the ground by Toni Kroos from the edge of the area found its way to the back of the net.

And by 20 minutes, they were 2-0 up thanks to a Thomas Muller goal from a Daniel Van Buyten corner.

Throughout the first half, Arsenal had many chances to test Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

But holding up the ball from the likes of Theo Walcott and Mikel Arteta before shooting gave Bayern Munich’s defence enough time to come back and clear any opportunities.

With hardly any clear goal-scoring chances for Arsenal, the half time score was 2-0 to Bayern Munich.

Ten minutes into the second half though, Arsenal got their first and only goal of the game. Lukas Podolski managed to header in a Jack Wilshere corner, which for some reason was allowed to bounce in the box beforehand. It wasn’t attacked by any other players as it passed through the box either.

When subs Oliver Giroud and Tomas Rosicky came on for Podolski and Aaron Ramsey, they had an instant impact and produced another chance for Arsenal.

A good long ball by Rosicky to Walcott, whose cross found Giroud in the box, forced Neuer to produce a save to stop Giroud’s shot.

Bayern Munich restored their two-goal lead not long after though. A Phillip Lahm cross was able to find Mario Mandzukic who miss hit the ball, but it bounced its way across the goal line.

A few minutes later, Bayern Munich had two chances to increase their lead further. Luiz Gustavo’s shot from outside the box was saved by Wojciech Szczesny, and Mario Gomez’s shot on the rebound went over the crossbar.

As no more goals were scored, the final score was Arsenal 1-3 Bayern Munich.

Although Arsenal fans will be disappointed, they should be able to recover quickly as not a lot of people predicted them to beat Bayern Munich.

The teams will meet again on Wednesday 13th March at the Allianz Arena in Germany for the second leg.

Stats

Arsenal

Goals: Podolski – 55’

Line-up: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Arteta, Wilshere, Walcott, Ramsey (Rosicky – 71′), Cazorla, Podolski (Giroud – 71’).

Unused subs: Mannone, Jenkinson, Diaby, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin

Booked: Sagna, Vermaelen, Arteta, Ramsey, Podolski

Bayern Munich

Goals: Kroos – 7’, Muller – 21’, Mandzukic – 77’

Line-up: Neuer, Dante, Van Buyten, Lahm, Ribery (Robben – 63’), Martinez, Muller, Alaba, Schweinsteiger, Kroos (Gustavo – 73’), Mandzukic (Gomez – 78’)

Unused subs: Tom Starke, Rafinha, Shaqiri, Tymoschuk

Booked: Lahm, Muller, Schweinsteiger

Ref: Oddvar Moen

Attendance: 59,974

Match Report by Conor Porter

twitter – @ConorJPorter

blog – conorporter.blogspot.co.uk

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