Arsenal have long since moved past the stage where they want any more lessons from Harry Kane, and yet he insists on delivering them anyway. Though one of his counterparts in Arsenal blue might have played a critical role in the equalizer, this 2-2 draw came with indications aplenty of the value of a striker who can do it all.
Like the North London derbies of old, Kane played the role of spoiler supreme for the Gunners, his 16th goal in 21 meetings an expertly struck penalty that capped an outstanding display from Bayern Munich's No. 9. The penalty he scored was the relatively easy part. Kane did plenty else. He had won that spot kick by finding space to meet Konrad Laimer's deflected drag back, Jurrien Timber making the fatal error of having arms while defending his penalty area in a UEFA-organized match.
Scoring was not the half of what Kane brought tonight. Shorn of his primary running mates -- Luis Diaz fit enough only for the bench, Michael Olise suspended and Jamal Musiala still unavailable -- Kane took on even more of the creative burden. It is sometimes easy to think that any false nine can put up a dozen-plus assists to go alongside his goal a game when he is aiming for the best wide forwards. Today he was putting it on a plate for repurposed left back Alphonso Davies, his through ball delivering the sort of opening you'd back even the most agricultural defender (which Davies is not) to roll it in.
With no Joshua Kimmich either, it fell on Kane to help out a youthful midfield with the ball progression too. Kimmich, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric: even the best ball-playing midfielders of their generation would have done well to ping what was effectively a goal kick following an Arsenal corner, a 70-yard pearler that pierced the best defense in the world in a flash.
This truly was a striker who could do it all, a worthy Ballon d'Or winner. As for his counterparts at Arsenal, they did their part. It should be noted that the Gunners would likely have suffered their first defeat in the league phase of the Champions League had it not been for a magnificently measured touch by Viktor Gyokeres with his back to goal, easing the ball into the path of Declan Rice, who thundered in a merited equalizer for the Premier League champions.
Kai Havertz too offered value of a sort. Arsenal were insistent that they would not play through Bayern's man-to-man press and would instead go over it. Havertz proved to be a valuable outlet in that regard, ensuring that Arsenal had a bit more of the territory, possession, shots and non-penalty xG. Mikel Arteta's game plan was a well-executed one, the sort that if replicated in the away leg of a big knockout tie at this ground, would have Arsenal firmly in the contest.
Arsenal have proven once more that they belong in the inner tier of Champions League contenders, that a knockout tie between them and any of Bayern, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain might well be decided by the sort of "magic moment" that Arteta spoke of when eliminated at the Allianz Arena in 2024. Eberechi Eze and Rice delivered those, drilled efforts from tight angles to beat an otherwise impressive Manuel Neuer. Martin Odegaard was on song too with a brilliant assist for the opener. Bukayo Saka started brightly before what appeared to be a thigh injury.
And maybe Gyokeres' assist had a little bit of the supernatural to it. Stil, it is not the sort of magic you expect from the striker of a Champions League contender. Arsenal's strikers need to be scoring. Scratch that, they need to be shooting. Across 16 games in all competitions this season, the starting center forwards for the English champions have delivered 17 shots, 15 in 677 minutes for Kai Havertz and two in 330 for Viktor Gyokeres. On a per 90 basis, Arteta is getting slightly less shot production from his senior strikers as Nottingham Forest get from center back Murillo. It took Kane four games to take his 17th shot. Against admittedly inferior Bundesliga opposition to the average Premier League backline, Kane has 50 shots in 802 minutes.
Arteta has always viewed his team as one where the shooting and scoring burden is shared around. When he challenged a player to score two or three goals a game it was Saka, not his center forwards. Arsenal's idealized striker was probably the fully fit Gabriel Jesus they had in the second half of 2022, a player who can drift from one flank to another, offering no fixed reference point and bringing others into play. Still, at peak fitness, Jesus averaged over three and a half shots per 90. He's a center forward. That's what they're supposed to do.
Partly this may be a question of service. Arsenal's moves to goal have slowed right down this season, an average of 7.3 passes per scoring sequence, the longest in Europe's top five leagues. That is great for a late arriving Rice or even Odegaard, less so for the reference-point center forward.
Arsenal will never play in a way that best suits Gyokeres in particular. Their opponents are generally packed so deep that there is not the space in the channel he craves. When they don't it is usually because they are applying the sort of suffocating press that makes it impossible to accurately release a striker over the top. Gyokeres might have loved Bayern's worst moments in the first half, when Odegaard got space to look up and ping passes in behind.
Then again, no opponent plays in a way that suits Kane too. Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha will have every tactical adjustment imaginable put in place to negate them. Does anyone feel compelled to do that for Arsenal's attackers?
Tonight Bayern's No. 9 had Ezri Konsa or Bruno Guimaraes tracking him high and low, ready to apply the blitz on one heavy touch. It never came. That is the difference between the best and what Arsenal have leading their line. They make the game suit them.
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