Declan Rice struck a late equaliser as Arsenal — finalists last season — left Bayern Munich with a 2-2 draw in the Champions League. It is only the second time Arsenal have dropped points in 12 games across all competitions this season.
Arsenal's start was far from ideal when Bukayo Saka, who shares top spot in the club's scoring charts, went down in the eighth minute clutching his thigh and immediately signalled to be substituted. Eberechi Eze came on in Saka's place and it was he who opened the scoring for the visitors in the 25th minute, latching onto a Martin Odegaard pass threaded through the Bayern defence and rounding goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The assistant referee initially flagged for offside, but VAR overturned the decision and awarded the goal, leaving the hosts stunned.
Ten minutes later, Harry Kane delivered exactly as expected ahead of the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London. Spotting Alphonso Davies surging forward, he split the midfield and turned past Gabriel to send the Canadian winger's low finish into the corner for the equaliser. Minutes later, Ezri Konsa was booked for a foul on Kane during a Bayern counter-attack.
After the break, Neuer and David Raya traded superb saves: the Bayern captain pushed a Bruno Guimaraes header onto the crossbar, while Raya denied Dayot Upamecano. Both sides kept pushing forward, and Kane was decisive once more as Bayern went ahead. His shot from the edge of the box struck the hand of Jurrien Timber, the referee pointed straight to the spot, and Kane converted the penalty himself.
The goal was Kane's 16th in 23 meetings with Arsenal and extended his Champions League scoring run to 10 consecutive matches. He is now one game short of Cristiano Ronaldo's record of scoring in 11 straight games for Real Madrid.
Bayern looked to have taken control, but the game swung again when substitute Viktor Gyokeres picked out Rice with a clever pass and the England midfielder equalised with eight minutes remaining. Bayern were without in-form winger Michael Olise, Germany captain Joshua Kimmich and midfielder Jamal Musiala. Coach Vincent Kompany had been a doubt through illness but was still on the bench. Even so, Kane ensured Bayern remained a constant threat against Arsenal's solid defence.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Kane admitted a degree of frustration with the result: "But maybe looking at the whole 90 minutes, a draw is a fair result."
