All hope of
qualifying for the last 16 is not lost, but to reach the knockout rounds
from here, Arsenal must win their final two games — at home to Dinamo
Zagreb and convincingly away at Olympiacos — and pray that the Greeks do
not pick up an unexpected point in Munich.
A
draw between Olympiacos and Bayern in the next game and the rare
ignominy of Thursday night football in the Europa League will be staring
Wenger in the face.
Will that hit their title bid? Will this result shatter the confidence of a threadbare squad?
The
scale of Arsenal’s injury crisis was laid bare in Munich. With Laurent
Koscielny and Hector Bellerin not fit to start, it took his casualty
list of first-team players into double figures.
As
Bayern brought Robben and Arturo Vidal on from the bench, Wenger sent
on 19-year-old Alex Iwobi, Kieran Gibbs and Calum Chambers.
On
the right, he started with Mathieu Debuchy and Joel Campbell in tandem,
and they were at full stretch from the outset, ever vulnerable to the
pace and energy of Kingsley Coman and Alaba.
Thiago
Alcantara created the first from this area, given the time to pick out
Lewandowski, who slipped away from Gabriel Paulista, adjusted well to
the flight, arched his back and converted a deft header.
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Petr Cech has to pick the ball out of
his net for the second time after Muller's deflected strike beat him
into the bottom right corner
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Muller celebrates his goal, which
almost ended the tie as a contest inside half an hour, as Arsenal
crumbled in the Allianz Arena
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Joel Campbell, who had to spend much of his evening tracking back to help his defence, puts in a tackle on Coman
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Francis Coquelin slides in to stop
Bayern's Brazilian star Douglas Costa breaking through the middle, but
Arsenal's midfield was over-run
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Alaba jumps for joy after his
excellent strike further extend Bayern's lead, and leave Arsenal
struggling to stay in the Champions League
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The defender showed the strength Bayern have in all positions, scoring the pick of the goals from full back
Arsenal
responded, although all was not as it appeared. Ozil, who started
brightly, turned in Nacho Monreal’s cross at the near post. The
officials, however, had spotted that he had used his upper arm.
Italian
referee Gianluca Rocchi interrupted the celebrations to show Ozil a
yellow card, the goal was ruled out and Bayern slipped back into the
groove.
Petr
Cech, back at the stadium where he performed heroics to win the
Champions League with Chelsea in 2012, came under siege while, up front,
Giroud was unable to relieve the pressure. Ozil was forced deeper and
his influence faded.
Cech
denied Coman and Lewandowski twice before Muller extended the lead.
This time it was Philipp Lahm who swung it over from the right. The
first effort, by Coman, was blocked but Muller pounced on the bouncing
ball. His shot on the turn clipped Per Mertesacker on the shins and
flashed inside the post.
Bayern
were slicing through Arsenal at will, and the Allianz Arena was
pulsating. Cech saved low and high to thwart Muller and Douglas Costa
tested the goalkeeper from long range.
The visitors needed the sanctuary of the dressing room and Alaba’s strike was a killer blow, just before the break.
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Philipp Lahm brings down Alexis Sanchez as the Arsenal star looked to get going on a rare foray forward for the Gunners
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Cech gets down quickly to deny Lewandowski another goal, as Bayern threatened to run riot against Arsene Wenger's side
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Ozil, who produced some flashes of
brilliance in an otherwise frustrating night for Arsenal, takes on
Douglas Costa on the left wing
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Bayern captain Lahm shields the ball from Alexis Sanchez as the home side dominated both the ball and the scoreline in Munich
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Lewandowski tries an overhead kick as
the German champions turned on the style and bounced back from their
defeat at the Emirates
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Robben was brought off the bench early in the second half for the impressive Coman, and was on the scoresheet just seconds later
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Cech could do nothing about the Dutch winger's close-range strike, which put his side four goals ahead
Alaba
turned creator for the fourth, rolling a pass towards Robben, who
sprinted across goal and fired it past Cech. Was this revenge for the
penalty save three years ago? The Dutch winger had been on the pitch
less than a minute.
Bayern
relaxed and suddenly Wenger’s team went forward with renewed freedom
and found gaps to exploit. A flick from Giroud sent Cazorla through but
his volley was straight at Manuel Neuer. Monreal stormed forward but
slipped and tumbled as he braced to shoot.
Giroud pulled one back, a mere consolation, before Muller compounded the misery on the break.
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Arsenal's two German stars, Ozil and Mertesacker, look devastated as they took a pasting on their return to home soil
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Giroud rushes to return the ball to
halfway after his late goal, but it was only ever going to be a
consolation strike for the Frenchman
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Robben rounds Cech and looked certain to add a fifth goal, but the big goalkeeper did just enough to slow down the winger
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Mathieu Debuchy get back to deny Robben with a crunching tackle, but Bayern still managed a fifth goal late on
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Muller scores his second of the night in the final minute to round off a superb performance by the German champions
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Muller celebrates his second goal with Costa, as Arsenal's Champions League hopes were left hanging by a thread
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