UEFA Champions League last 16 Bayern Munich 3 - Arsenal 1Arsenal are not only down, but in serious danger of going out. Defensive and goalkeeping frailties have dogged Arsene Wenger's team all season and were brutally exposed by Bayern Munich last night. They face an uphill task at Highbury the week after next, though a late Kolo Toure goal has given them hope.
It always seemed unlikely that a team too vulnerable to head their own domestic league would thrive in Europe and two mistakes by Toure and another by Jens Lehmann, to the delight of the Bayern supporters and doubtless his arch-rival and opposite number Oliver Kahn, have left them on the brink.
This was a depressing performance, given a little gloss when Toure scored after Patrick Vieira had hit a post to mean that a 2-0 win in the return will send them through. That was only their second shot on target of the match.
Never has the need for Wenger to strengthen at the back been more obvious than here, where Sol Campbell was missed and Arsenal were guilty of basic errors from open play and set-pieces.
The defeat could have been heavier. Arsenal showed so few attacking ideas and urgency despite dominating first-half possession that, after falling behind to an early strike, they rarely looked like getting back into the game. Two second-half goals finished them off and they were then fortunate not to have Lauren sent off for an ugly foul.
Arsenal can hardly have expected a straightforward evening. They have achieved some magnificent away results in Europe under Wenger, but they have been interspersed with too many failures. It is rarely possible to know which Arsenal will turn up.
And they certainly made a dreadful start. Less than three minutes had gone when a basic defensive mistake enabled Bayern to take the lead. A long punt by Oliver Kahn ought to have been harmless, but Toure miscued his header under no real pressure and Claudio Pizarro sent a left-foot shot past Lehmann.
Arsenal's attempts to get back into the game were coming to nothing. Gradually they began to dominate possession, but showed no sign of a cutting edge against a Bayern side who were pulling plenty of bodies behind the ball.
Wenger had chosen to pair Freddie Ljungberg with Thierry Henry up front in the absence of Dennis Bergkamp, yet the partnership showed little immediate spark. On the one occasion when Henry clipped a dangerous pass to Ljungberg, the Swede sent a weak header into Kahn's arms.
Although Bayern had mounted a few dangerous attacks in the opening period after going ahead, not least down their right involving Hasan Salihamidzic, they generally looked happy to soak up what Arsenal threw at them and then strike on a few breaks. Lehmann was not tested again before half-time.
That approach was surprising given the edginess and vulnerability which seemed evident in Arsenal's backline, and not just in Toure's error. The challenge for Wenger's players, though, was to make their possession count.
Henry could not exert the influence he would have wanted. The service to him was unimpressive and he did not pose his normal menace in wide positions. When he turned away from Lucio and sent over a good cross, there was no one to provide a touch.
If part of Wenger's thinking in his use of Ljungberg was to get Robert Pires and Jose Antonio Reyes making openings down the flanks, it did not work. Reyes was particularly poor with his final ball in the first half.
The team's first real effort on goal came in the 42nd minute, Gael Clichy advancing to strike a shot that was deflected narrowly wide off Robert Kovac.
There was more urgency about Arsenal in the opening seconds of the second half when Henry's pass culminated in Reyes shooting wide, and that set a tone for a brief spell of greater attacking urgency from Wenger's team, who had lost Edu to what looked a tight hamstring in the first half, with Mathieu Flamini coming on.
But it was a brief high as Bayern began to expose them at the back. Only a good save by Lehmann prevented Roy Makaay from scoring after Ze Roberto's teasing cross had eluded Pascal Cygan and then, from a corner, Salihamidzic sent a header into the side netting.
The warning to tighten up on set-pieces was not heeded. Mehmet Scholl, with his first touch after coming on, sent over a free-kick and Pizarro lost Toure to head past Lehmann. Worse was to follow.
Torsten Frings skipped past Cygan and sent over a cross that Lehmann, at full stretch, only diverted into the path of Salihamidzic. The keeper ought to have done better and the Bosnian drove the ball into an empty net.
BAYERN MUNICH: Kahn, Sagnol, Kovac, Lucio, Lizarazu, Demichelis, Salihamidzic (Hargreaves 74), Frings, Ze Roberto (Scholl 57), Makaay, Pizarro (Guerrero 68). Subs Not Used: Rensing, Jeremies, Linke, Schweinsteiger. Booked: Demichelis, Kovac. Goals: Pizarro 3, 58, Salihamidzic 65.
ARSENAL: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Cygan, Clichy (Cole 83), Ljungberg (Van Persie 76), Vieira, Edu (Flamini 36), Pires, Reyes, Henry. Subs Not Used: Almunia, Fabregas, Senderos, Larsson. Booked: Vieira, Lauren. Goals: Toure 88.
Referee: K Nielsen (Denmark).
