A Harsh Scoreline But A Fair Result

Match Review: Bayern 5-1 Arsenal - Champions League 04.11.2015

I wrote after the Swansea game that this week was a series of three tests. Well although we passed the first one, this second test was a bit more like that episode of The Inbetweeners where Will shits himself and has to leave the exam hall. To be honest though, I don't think we deserved to be on the end of such a spanking. We actually played quite well in the first half, but the key moments went against us and leaves us needing something of a miracle to get through.

We were dealt two big blows before the game, firstly with Hector Bellerin staying at home with a groin injury and then Koscielny having to drop to the bench with a hip complaint. This took the total of first team players unable to start the match to ten, quite a remarkable achievement even for us. Debuchy came in for Bellerin and Gabriel took Koscielny's place.

It was the latter of the two replacements who was culpable for the opening goal. The last thing we needed was to concede early, but Gabriel was late pushing up with the rest of the back four and Thiago's clipped ball over the defence was nodded in by Lewandowski. Obviously Gabriel made a mistake, but I can't help feeling that Cech could have made more of an effort to keep it out. Maybe I'm just being overly critical, but that's how I felt at the time.

We reacted really well, went straight down the other end and put the ball in the net, but amidst the celebrations, the fifth official intervened and disallowed the goal. Obviously I'm biased, but I think it was a really harsh call, both to disallow the goal and to yellow card the supposed scorer. Özil was adjudged to have handled the ball into the goal from an Alexis cross, but on the replay it seemed to show it hit him somewhere between his elbow and his shoulder. Not only that but he was tucking his arm into his body, not trying to use his arm to put the ball in. It was a bit like how Giroud's goal in the first game happened to contact his hand accidentally but was still a perfectly legitimate goal.

If that goal had stood I think it would have been a much more competitive game. We still had an attacking threat, but we were buried by two more Bayern goals before half time. Firstly Müller received the ball in the box and his scuffed left foot shot deflected off Mertesacker and left Cech no chance. Then Alaba picked up the ball 30 yards from goal and we allowed him to advance to the edge of the box and smash an absolute screamer into the top corner. Both goals were unlucky ones to concede, but also preventable from our point of view.

The second half was a bit more of a car crash and the introduction of Arjen Robben saw an immediate fourth goal. Our back four was all over the place as Bayern got to the byline, cut the ball back and Robben smashed into the roof of the net. The team looked a bit shell shocked and with such a long time left in the game, it looked like Bayern could be on for 7 or 8.

To the credit of the team though, they did actually keep plugging away and eventually did get some form of reward. The goal was largely down to Giroud, who took a cross on his chest and then swivelled to volley the ball past Neuer. Not much to shout about, but it was a cracking goal from the inform Frenchman and will at least keep his confidence up.

Unfortunately, we couldn't help having a go for more goals and were inevitably caught on the counter attack. Thomas Müller was the beneficiary, grabbing his second of the game with a precise finish that curved away from Cech and inside the near post. Bayern were certainly the superior team and deserved their win, but I think 5-1 was harsh on us.

I also don't think it takes anything away from our home win against them. We deserved that win, it was the result of executing a game plan and fighting our way to the three points. It was not a freak result as the ridiculous John Cross article would have you believe. Bayern are better than any team in the Premier League and if they play to their potential, they're probably the best team in the world. The scoreline isn't pretty, but at the end of the day, we beat them at home and were beaten away and that's better than most were predicting. We can still qualify if we win our last two games and beat Olympiakos by two clear goals (assuming Olympiakos get nothing against Bayern). All we can do is hope we get a minor miracle to get through and focus all our energy on beating the scum at the weekend. 

Teams

Bayern Munich (4-1-4-1)
Neuer, Lahm, Boateng (Benatia 68'), Martinez, Alaba, Alonso, Thiago, Costa, Müller, Coman (Robben 55'), Lewandowski (Vidal 71')
Subs
Ulreich, Kimmich, Vidal, Robben, Benatia, Rafinha, Badstuber

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Cech, Debuchy, Gabriel, Mertesacker, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla (Chambers 87'), Campbell (Y) (Gibbs 59'), Özil (Y), Alexis, Giroud (Iwobi 85')
Subs
Macey, Gibbs, Chambers, Koscielny, Reine-Adelaide, Iwobi, Flamini

Player Ratings

Cech - 5/10 - Maybe could have done better with the first, but nothing else
Debuchy - 4/10 - Wasn't as bad as he could have been, but we need Hector back
Mertesacker - 5/10 - Not really much that he could do to stop the Bayern onslaught
Gabriel - 3/10 - His first really poor performance, hopefully one to leave in the past
Monreal - 6/10 - Not really at fault for anything
Coquelin - 5/10 - Did his best but the midfield was overrun
Cazorla - 4/10 - Struggled and lost the ball more than usual
Alexis - 3/10 - In a bit of a form dip, really must stop losing the ball at the back
Özil - 6/10 - Should have been allowed a goal, one of our better performers
Campbell - 4/10 - Out of his depth, but did work hard
Giroud - 6/10 - Excellent finish, in great form
Subs
Gibbs - 5/10 - Didn't do a whole lot
Iwobi - N/A
Chambers - N/A

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