It was a vintage Champions League night as English giants Arsenal took on the German titans Bayern Munich. In what was a thrilling encounter, Arsenal’s return to the Champions League quarterfinals after a long wait of 14 years ended in a 2-2 draw. However, the Arsenal supporters wouldn’t go home tonight happy after their side was denied a penalty in what was a controversial call.
It was a challenging night for Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich who have already conceded the Bundesliga title. To make matters worse, it only took Bukayo Saka 12 minutes to breach the Bayern defense and score past Manuel Neuer. Serge Gnabry grabbed the equalizer just six minutes later after an assist from Leon Goretzka.
🥵 #UCL pic.twitter.com/bvPnVpHf6N
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 9, 2024
Arsenal’s familiar foe, Harry Kane, came back to haunt the Gunners on his return to the Emirates. Kane gave Bayern the lead after slotting in a 32nd penalty after defender William Saliba brought down Leroy Sane in the box. Bayern‘s lead, albeit, didn’t last long as Leandro Trossard scored Arsenal’s second goal after some slick interplay with Gabriel Jesus in the 76th minute.
🚨🎥| Furious Bukayo Saka was seen arguing with the referee after being denied a penalty during the Arsenal vs Bayern Munich match… pic.twitter.com/BtWBMdy8DA
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) April 9, 2024
The talking point of the game would be surely Arsenal being denied a penalty in the dying minutes of the game with Manuel Neuer bringing down Bukayo Saka inside the box. Despite vehement protests from Saka and his teammates, the referee didn’t change his mind.
The incident immediately sparked a heated debate on social media platforms with most of the fans claiming that Saka had intentionally let his foot hit Neuer. One fan even wrote, “Saka should get a yellow card for DIVING.” Nevertheless, the players will have it all to play for in the return leg at Bayern’s Allianz Arena.
Harry Kane becomes the top-scoring non-Arsenal player at Emirates Stadium
Meanwhile, it was a record-breaking night for Harry Kane as the former king of North London returned to the Emirates Stadium. After giving nightmares to the Arsenal supporters during his time at Tottenham Hotspur, Kane returned in Bayern Munich’s colors to torment the Gunners once again. After scoring his 32nd-minute penalty, Kane has now become the top-scoring non-Arsenal player at the Emirates Stadium.
With six goals scored at Emirates Stadium, Kane overtook Jamie Vardy and Diogo Costa’s tally of five goals. It was also Kane’s 15th goal against the English giants in 20 appearances, with his first goal coming way back in 2015 when he scored a brace on his maiden North London derby debut. Only Leicester City and Everton have conceded more goals against Harry Kane, 20 and 16 respectively, than Arsenal (via Transfermarkt).
