Arsenal was defeated by Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League draw. The match featured some exciting end to end action in its opening half and two missed penalties. Here are five things we learned from the first leg of this round of bout.
1. Mesut Ozil's is having some problems
Everyone knows that Arsenal's recent woes have been in part attributed to the poor play of its star summer acquisition. The German seemed to be playing with some level of confidence at the start of the game and helped create a penalty in the game's opening 10 minutes. However, his lack of confidence came to the fore when he was asked to take the penalty. The midfielder looked uncomfortable in the tough spot and hesitated; he wound up chipping the ball down the middle where German keeper Manuel Neuer easily batted it away.
After that, Ozil seemed to disappear a bit in the game and Arsenal seemed to lose some of its early momentum. Around the 21st minute he had the chance to lead an Arsenal counter attack. He stopped, and instead of looking around for passing options, he passed it right to the other team.
When his team was down to 10 men, he was left on the field in favor of Santi Cazorla but rarely made a difference. If anything he left Arsenal vulnerable on the right flank and was beaten a number of times by Arjen Robben on that side.
2. Pep Guardiola's team is unable to handle speed on the wings
A year ago, Bayern Munich's speed on the wings made it virtually unbeatable. But against Arsenal, the German champs looked lethargic and completely lost on the wings. The penalty was the result of a quick counter attack that found Ozil on the left wing darting into the box. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was particularly dangerous on the right wing and nearly scored on a breakaway that Neuer managed to kick away.
3. Munich's offside trap is horrid
Munich is arguably the best team in the world, but Arsenal seemed to expose a weakness in the German giant's defense. There were a number of instances early in the game when the English side managed to create quick breaks up the flanks and down the middle thanks to Guardiola's defense relying on a high line that lacked the ability to match the English side's speed. The team then almost gave Koscielny a breakaway off a free kick; had the Frenchman not failed to control the ball, it might have been an easy goal for Arsenal.
4. Oxlade-Chamberlain is the real deal
The 20-year-old Arsenal player was arguably the English side's most dangerous player throughout the evening. His runs down the right flank gave Munich a lot of trouble and he created a few nice passes that unlocked Munich's defense. It was actually quite surprising to see him get taken off late in the game; Ozil should have been removed at that juncture.
5. Arsenal should be optimistic heading into the second leg
Many expected Bayern Munich to win this match. But what few anticipated was that Arsenal would play the way it did. The team dominated the opening 20 minutes of the game and managed to maintain a rather disciplined defensive structure despite being down a man. A 2-0 loss is tough but this does not mean that Arsenal cannot make a comeback in the second leg. This team should be confident that it can get a positive result in Munich in the second leg; after all, the team beat the German giants 2-0 on the road in last season's match.
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