Vincent Kompany watched his Bayern Munich side lose for the first time as Arsenal beat their German rivals 3-1 at the Emirates.
Wednesday night’s win marked the 15th Champions League clash between Arsenal and Bayern Munich, and finally, a victory was earned.
The 3-1 win was the Gunners’ first win over the Bavarian giants since 2015, with Mikel Arteta’s side firmly the team to beat in Europe right now.
After handing Tottenham their first away defeat in the Premier League, Arsenal returned to N5 three days later to serve Bayern their first defeat of the season, and two players orchestrated both wins.
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka praised by German media after Arsenal’s win against Bayern Munich
Harry Kane was wary of Declan Rice before kick-off, and for good reason, as the midfielder has been incredible so far this season.
After the resounding North London Derby win, Bukayo Saka would’ve also been on Bayern’s watch list; however, Kompany’s players couldn’t stop either of them.
German media outlet Spiegel compiled ‘three takeaways’ from the match, one of which was about Arsenal’s set-piece success.
What rival managers have said about Arsenal’s set-pieces 🔥
Jurrien Timber converted a corner delivered from Saka, and Spiegel weren’t surprised.
‘This success is also due to the incredibly good free-kickers Arsenal possess’, they wrote, as the two England internationals were lauded for making Bayern feel ‘useless’.
After naming Saka and Rice, Spiegel noted, ‘if the crosses aren’t consistently dangerous, even the cleverest runs are useless.’
Arteta wanted Arsenal to score a set-piece against Tottenham, and after four open-play goals against the Lilywhites, the Gunners answered their manager’s request against Bayern.
Harry Kane left red-faced after pre-match jab at Arsenal
Arsenal’s set-piece supremacy is as impressive as it is slandered.
Before kick-off at the Emirates, Kane took a subtle swipe at the Gunners in his pre-match press conference.
William Saliba dominated Harry Kane during Arsenal vs Bayern Munich
After stating that the Premier League is ‘less enjoyable’ than it was due to set plays, Kane said:
“Arsenal have capitalised on that and are a really strong set plays team. We’ve done our normal preparation that we do in every game. Obviously, we looked at what they do well and their threats and how we can try and stop that.”
Bayern did the groundwork, but as the media are saying, it wasn’t enough, with every action being made to look ‘useless’ because of Arsenal’s strength.
Kane might not like what the Premier League is looking like without him, but Arsenal certainly do.
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